Hermione, I'm The One
by adorkable-mandie
Summary: He was always there for her. No matter what, she knew that he would be the one she could turn to. But he wants more than being "just friends". So, why did he introduce her to his friend? **A/U**
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is an AU! No Lord Voldemort, No Death Eaters, No War, just the students going through life at school the best that teenagers can.**

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He closed his gray eyes to block out the light from the late afternoon sun and leaned back in his favorite little hiding place on the school grounds. He used his hands as cushions for his head against the rough bark of the tree. He knew that students would be walking through the courtyard, but unless they deliberately looked up in the tree, they wouldn't see him hiding up there.

_This is nice_. He thought to himself

He let his other senses take over as he relaxed. He could feel the crisp fall air cascade over his pale, barely-exposed skin. He heard the rustling of the trees in the Forbidden Forest scratch against each other in the wind; which also carried the voices of the students from various places over the grounds. The most over-powering scent came from the tree he sat in and-

"What are you doing?" a small voice called out, interrupting his relaxation process.

He knew that voice. He immediately shot up and frantically reached up to fix his pale blonde hair, just in case it had messed up.

Then, he turned his attention to the direction that the voice came from. Down at the base of the tree stood, he thought to be, one of the loveliest girl he had ever laid eyes on. She had pulled her typically bushy, brown hair into a neat ponytail. Her chocolate brown eyes were shining. Her cheeks had a slight tinge of color to them, as if she had just been running. He took notice that she pulled her lips up into a smile, this, in turn, made him smile. He let his eyes quickly travel over the rest of her body. Her body, well, she didn't have the gaze of most of the guys in school for nothing. She did have a nice, fit build. She stood there with one hand on her hip and the other holding a rather large book. She started tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for his answer, he realized.

"Well, if you must know, Hermione," he said as he turned to start climbing down the tree, "I was enjoying my Saturday the proper way."

"Ha, hardly, Draco, you just want to slack off instead of study." Hermione retorted.

Once he was less than a few feet from the ground, Draco jumped down and turned to face Hermione. He didn't realize that he was going to literally face her. Usually, he stood over her by a few fair inches, but today, Hermione had placed herself on one of the roots of the tree. He made the mistake of looking at her lips and how close they were.

Draco turned around quickly and took a couple steps away. His heart was racing. He could feel the blush go across his face. He could still feel the tingle of her warm breath on his face. A light sweat covered the inside of his clinched hands. He had to distract himself.

"So, what brings you out of the library?" he asked over his shoulder. He was thankful that his voice was steady and didn't reflect how nervous he was.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go to the lake with me." she said cheerfully.

Of course, they went to the lake together on random Saturdays for the past three years. Hermione had suggested it in their Second year, so, whenever they wanted to talk about school, life or whatever it was, they would go down to the lake to talk about it.

"Sure, let's go." Draco said as he turned to look at her.

Hermione smiled at him, and then focused her attention down to her feet as she climbed her way out of the tangle of roots that surrounded the tree. Draco took this opportunity to dry his sweaty palms on his trousers.

_Just in case_. He thought to himself.

Draco and Hermione weren't a couple, but they had a complex friendship. A fairly recent development in their relationship was that Hermione would, albeit very rarely, randomly take his hand and hold it.

Hermione caught up with him and started chattering about her classes. Though they were both in their Fifth year, Hermione was taking the most difficult classes she could. She was a genius, always studying magic beyond our level. Draco wondered why she would even bother to study. Then again, he wouldn't have a study partner if she didn't. Draco was in average level classes for a Fifth year student.

Hermione was prattling on about this advanced spell and that advanced potion that she was learning. Draco nodded at all the right times, watching to see of she would make a move, in fact, he was waiting for it.

They had just about reached the lake. He figured she wasn't going to hold his hand, so, he just stuffed his hands into his pockets. He kicked at an imaginary rock to show his disappointment.

They reached their spot by the lakeside. Draco dropped down onto the grass. Hermione was more cautious about her descent; he couldn't help but watch her.

_She'd look much better in Slytherin colors_. He thought to himself as she settled down comfortably in the grass. He started thinking about what it would be like if they did share the same House. He had to admit, he had been thinking about that a lot lately. They could hang out in the common room, instead of having to part ways at curfew.

"-aco?"

Hermione's voice broke his train of thought. She was lightly tugging on the sleeve of his shirt. Draco glanced down at her hand, then back up to her face. Her facial expression looked slightly annoyed, but her eyes said that she was concerned about him.

"Is something the matter, Draco?" she asked, dropping the annoyed look and exchanging it for a worried one.

_Only daydreaming of being with you._ He knew he couldn't say that. He looked out across the lake as he contemplated his answer.

"Just…got a lot….on my mind." he said with a sigh. Then, he fell back to lie down on the grass and look up at the pinks and purples that colored the sky. He closed his eyes, wishing she would realize how much she was the one of his mind.

"You know…" Hermione started, and then she hesitated. Draco could hear the crunching of the grass as she shifted her weight closer to where he was laying down. Suddenly, her soft, warm hand took hold of his and clasped it carefully. "…you can talk to me about anything, right?"

He opened his eyes, sat up and looked at her. She was blushing. He followed her gaze, down to where their hands were interlocking with another.

"I know." Draco replied, giving her hand a little squeeze.

Then, a low rumble broke the silence. Hermione was biting her lip to keep from laughing out loud. Draco put his free hand over his stomach, realizing where the sound of the rumble came from. His stomach growling slightly embarrassed him, but Hermione couldn't help laughing.

"Well…I guess we'd…we'd best go get supper." she said, in-between giggles.

Draco reluctantly let go of her hand as he got up off the ground. Once he was up on his feet, he reached down to pick up her book and to offer Hermione a hand to help her get up to her feet.

"Thanks." she said as she dusted herself off.

Draco was a little more than shocked to see that she didn't pull her hand out of his. So, the two walked back up to the castle hand in hand, in silence. Draco smiled, enjoying this little moment.

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**Reviews are welcomed! **


	2. Chapter 2

As Draco and Hermione reached the steps of the castle, she quickly pulled her hand out of his. He would have liked to have walked in holding her hand, but she would have been too embarrassed to do something like that.

When they entered the castle, they could hear the sound of the many students escaping from the Great Hall as they crossed to enter it themselves. He motioned for her to go ahead into the Great Hall, with a slight bow. She smiled and did a little curtsy in return. They laughed about that as the two walked in. Hermione turned to face him, holding out her hand. Draco was confused for a moment, and then remembered her book.

"I'll see you later." he whispered in her ear as he handed her the book. She started chewing on her lower lip and nodded. Then, she turned to walk over to the Gryffindor table. She waved at Luna Lovegood as she passed the Ravenclaw table. Luna waved back, obviously trying to display whatever new amulet she was using to protect herself this week that was hanging off her wrist. Luna turned her blonde head towards Draco and waved at him too. He waved back at her and then turned to make sure that Hermione was settled in and eating, not just reading through supper, again.

Draco turned on his heel and headed towards the Slytherin table. Crabbe and Goyle flagged him down to join them, so he did. These two were just about the only Slytherins that Draco could tolerate. After all, they did act as if his world was law. And the two boys' fathers treated Draco's father the same way.

Draco was making himself a plate; when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small crowd of girls gathered at the middle of the Gryffindor table. Each girl was giggling and trying to politely make her way to the center of the crowd.

_Oh boy._ Draco thought with a chuckle. He knew exactly what was causing all the commotion.

Just then, two boys broke through the crowd. The first one was rather tall. He had slightly shaggy, ginger-colored hair. As usual, he had a mischievous look on his face. The other one was just shorter than the first. The second one had hair that was a black as a blackboard that was cut just shorter than the first one. The second one also wore round glasses. Standing next to the ginger one, the second one had very pale-toned skin.

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were the "it" boys of Gryffindor. Draco chuckled at the truth of his best friends. The three boys had been in all the same classes since their First year. Meeting one another for the first time on the Hogwart's Express seemed like fate, they all became friends immediately.

Over the years, the three got into trouble together all the time. Even though Hermione told Draco he shouldn't, Draco was always up for whatever scheme Harry came up, with Ron leading the way. The three had traveled all over Hogwarts, learning as many of its secrets as they could. They had more than their fair share of time in Headmaster Dumbledore's office as well for pranks gone astray.

But it wasn't until last year that Ron became such a playboy. Ron had asked Draco to help him with his "game". The reason being that Hogwarts was hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournaments and that included the Yule Ball. Draco, with some help from Harry, turned Ron from a dateless loser to one of the most wanted guys in school. Draco Had to admit the transformation of his best friend was amazing.

_Speaking of amazing, _Draco thought, _and those three has been in the same house for all these years, yet I've never heard them mention each other. Bet they never even talk to each other._ Draco turned his attention back to his food. Then another thought struck him.

_As long as Ron doesn't go after Hermione, then all's well._

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"Where is she?" Draco asked himself out loud.

He leaned back against the wall of the stairs that lead up to First floor. A group of giggling Slytherin girls passed by him. He could tell that they wanted his attention. Draco politely waved and said hello to them. The girls squealed and broke into a run towards the dungeons.

_Probably off to the common room to gossip._

Draco slid down the wall and sat down on the steps.

_If I'm going to wait, might as well get comfortable._ He had just closed his eyes, when he heard footsteps running in his direction. He couldn't help but smile at her perfect timing.

"I'm sorry I made you wait, Draco." Hermione said, just the slightest bit breathless. Draco stood back up as he looked at her, still carrying that big book. "Luna was telling me something about a creature called a…a Nargle."

Draco was happy that Hermione had made another friend. Seemed as if it wasn't for answering questions in class, Luna and himself, Hermione would never get her nose out of a book.

"Its alright." he assured her. With that, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Would you mind walking with me to the library to return this?" she asked, pointing to the book she had been lugging around.

_You know I would do anything for you_.

"Sure."

Hermione smiled and rushed up to the step he was on. They slowly started to climb the stairs when Draco heard the sounds a multiple girls groaning coming from just inside the Great Hall.

"Now, now girls, its gunna be alright." Draco recognized Ron's voice as it carried out into the corridor.

"Everyone has to be fair." Harry added.

Draco wished he could have sped Hermione and himself along and hurried out of there.

"Oi! Malfoy!" Ron called out as Draco and Hermione had almost gotten away.

_Oh man!_


	3. Chapter 3

Draco froze on the step. He turned to look at Hermione, who had a slightly scared expression on her face. Draco figured she just didn't want to deal with them.

"Hey Weasley," Draco said as he turned to face the boys that were making their way up to where he stood, "Potter." Draco nodded at each of them as he said both of their names.

When the boy would hang out together, they would call each other by their first names. Well, except for Draco. Ron and Harry always called him by his last name. He had to admit, he preferred it that way though.

Draco glanced back at Hermione, who had backed herself against the wall. He turned his attention back to the boys as they were clobbering up the stairs.

"Malfoy, mate, where have you been hiding?" Ron asked and he put one arm around Draco's shoulders.

"Yea, we couldn't find you anywhere." Harry said as he joined in on the other side, wrapping his arm around Draco's shoulders as well.

"It's not like I was hiding." Draco told them. Well, not from them at least. He was hiding from Pansy. The little bugger had been trying to get together with him since the new term had started.

"Well, we got you now," Ron said, sounding triumphant, "And we was wondering…"

"If you'd like to join us for some trouble making." Harry continued.

Sometimes, the way these two talked, you would think that they studied the way Ron's older twin brothers, Fred and George, talked. Draco occasionally found it creepy how they would finish each other's sentences.

"Sorry guys, not tonight." Draco was trying to wiggle his way out of the hold that Ron and Harry had on him.

"Come on, mate, you need to have some fun." Ron replied.

Then, Draco made the mistake of looking up where Hermione had placed herself on the other side of the stairwell, away from the boys. Ron followed Draco's gaze, the Harry followed suit.

"Well, well, well," Ron said, as her was checking Hermione out, "Looks to me as if Malfoy already has his fun planned for the night."

"Wow, Malfoy, you like the nerdy type?" Harry asked, incredulously.

Ron removed his arm from around Draco and started walking towards Hermione. He reached up to smooth out his ginger hair.

"Oi, Bookworm, you planning on having a good time with Malfoy, here?" Ron asked her, he was only a few steps from her.

Hermione just stared down at his feet. Draco could tell she was blushing with embarrassment and biting her lip. Even though he couldn't help but think about how cute she was standing there like that, Draco knew he had to put a stop to this.

"Hey, Bookworm, do you only answer questions from the professors?" Harry had joined in the teasing.

"Enough now, we're just friends." Draco nearly shouted at them as he broke free of Harry's arm. He was practically stomping to where Ron and Hermione were standing.

"Come on." he said as he carefully took hold of Hermione's arm and led her up the stairs.

Ron turned around to look at Harry and started to walk back down towards his friend.

"Looks like I may have found a new puzzle to solve." Ron said as he pointed up to where Draco was leading Hermione up the stairs, away from them.

"Then we should get to work on conjuring the perfect plan," Harry replied, his green eyes following the two as they climbed out of sight, "Because she won't be an easy one."

"I love a challenge." Ron smirked.


	4. Chapter 4

Draco did not say anything while he and Hermione climbed the stairs and made their way to the library. He was thankful that the corridor was empty. It made him furious to think about the way Ron and Harry had behaved towards Hermione. Anger seared through him. Suddenly, Hermione let out a gasp. Draco turned to see what was wrong. He had forgotten that he was holding on to her arm, and thinking about those two, he accidentally squeezed her arm too tightly.

"I'm so sorry." Draco said as he let go of the grip he had on her arm.

He saw that her shoulders were shaking. Surely, he did not hurt her, not that bad.

"Herm-"

Hermione throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest cut off Draco. Her book dropped to the ground with an echoing 'thump'.

"Why?" she asked, starting to cry softly, "Why are they always so mean?"

_Good question._

"I don't know what's happened to them; they didn't used to be like that." Draco answered as he wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. He kept repeating to her that everything was going to be all right, holding her close to him.

After she had calmed down, almost ten minutes later, Draco returned the book for her. She held his arm as they climbed up to the Seventh floor together. Neither of them said anything. Other students passing by didn't pay them any mind.

It seemed as if the Seventh floor had been deserted as well. Draco thought that it was just as well. He didn't want Hermione on display, like a sideshow at a circus.

"Draco," Hermione started, her voice still a little bit shaky from crying, "Thank you."

Draco felt a pang of guilt. He didn't think she should be grateful to him. It had been his fault that she had been caught up in that mess.

"Hermione, I'm so-"

She hugged him, cutting Draco off.

"Thank you saving me," she whispered in his ear, "You're always there when I need you."

Then, Hermione pushed herself up on her tiptoes and kissed Draco on the cheek. The moment her soft lips pressed against his skin, Draco was sure his heart was going to bust through his ribcage. He felt the blush that raced over his face.

When she slowly started to ease herself back down on flat feet, Draco saw that her face was crimson with blush. He noticed her lips weren't that far from his. It felt like he had butterflies in his stomach and they were flapping like crazy.

He brought his hand up, very slowly, and gently caressed her arm. Once he reached her shoulder, he placed his hand on the back of her neck. He felt her warm breath against his face again. He started to lean down. He saw she was even closing her eyes.

_Finally._

That was the only thought that made sense in his mind. Then, Draco slowly closed his eyes.

Suddenly, it seemed as if all of the Gryffindor house could be heard racing up the stairs to get to the common room within a safe distance from curfew.

Draco jumped back and moved out of the immediate area to avoid being ran over by the rushing students. He was a Slytherin, after all, he could imagine that some students that took the rivalry between the two Houses wouldn't mind hurting him. He shook off that thought as one of the Gryffindor Prefects, Neville Longbottom, mumbled the password to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Draco's eyes searched the crowd as they climb their way through the portal.

Draco spotted Hermione standing off to the side of the portrait. She looked like she was bummed down. She looked up and saw him, giving off an apologetic smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow." he mouthed at her. She nodded and smiled.

There were a few more Gryffindors waiting to get through.

"Good night." he mouthed.

"You too." she replied.

All the others had gone in, so it was Hermione's turn. Before she did, Hermione turned to Draco and waved at him. Her face still colored with blush. Then, she stepped through.

Draco lingered in the corridor for a few moments after she left. He was making sure that Ron and Harry didn't go in right after her to mess with her. He hoped that she went straight to her dormitory. After all, Hogwarts was designed so that boys couldn't enter the girls' dormitory, so she was safe there.

He turned to find the secret passage that would take him down to the dungeons. He was pretty sure that in his travels with Ron and Harry, along with the invisibility cloak that Harry's father had passed on to him, they had found a good number of the secret passages within the school. Another flash of anger went through Draco when he thought of his friends as he made his way through the dungeons and to the Slytherin entrance.

He said the password and went in. He walked through the common room, not paying any attention to who was in there or what was going on. He walked over to his trunk to pull out some clothes to sleep in and quickly changed.

Once he was in his bedclothes, Draco threw himself down onto his bed. He went over all the events of the day, while staring at the closed curtains of his bed. Draco was going to have a serious talk with Ron and Harry tomorrow. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, as he got under the covers, to think of better things.

_She kissed me, on the cheek, but still, it's better than nothing!_ Draco thought to himself with a smile. With that, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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**Reviews are welcomed! ^_^v**


	5. Chapter 5

Draco woke up late the next day, so he hurried to change into his school uniform. He grabbed his Potions book and the parchment he was using for his homework for the class and stuffed the items into his school bag. Once he was packed, he left for the Great Hall for breakfast.

When he arrived there, he found that he wasn't the only one to sleep in. A small number of students were scattered all around the Great Hall. He saw some students eating with their friends from other Houses. That was the neat thing about the weekend, since there wasn't a set schedule, like there was during the school week; everyone went about on their own schedule. Which meant that seating in the Great Hall was usually free game for students to sit where they pleased.

Draco settled at the far end of the Slytherin table, close to the door, so that he could run as soon as he was done eating. He made himself a small plate of bacon and eggs, which he consumed rather quickly. Then, he was off to the library. Draco planned on using his unfinished Potions homework as an excuse to go up to the library, so that he could check on Hermione.

As he entered the library, he found that it was as eerily quiet as always. Madame Pince was sitting at her desk, sorting through papers. He could barely hear the faint whispers of students that were there for various reasons. Draco made his way through a couple dozen bookshelves before he reached Hermione's favorite study area.

Sure enough, as he came around the corner, there sat Hermione with, as usual, her nose in a book. She was so engrossed with what she was reading that she didn't seem to notice that he was standing there.

_What else is new? _He thought with a silent chuckle.

She had her hair pulled back into a braid and, also, was wearing a thin black headband. She was sitting with her elbows resting on the arms of her chair, holding her book up, covering most of her face. The only exception was her brown eyes. They were exposed as they kept moving back and forth across the page. Draco tilted his head to the side to read the name of the book. Judging by the title, he knew she wasn't reading school material. In fact, it sounded like it belonged in the Romance genre. Even the expression on Hermione's face said that she was reading something dreamy.

"Hermione Granger?" Draco whispered, trying to get her attention.

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice. Then, she quickly tried to hide the novel she had been reading and pulled out a random school book from her bag, on the desk, to try to cover the novel.

"H-hey Draco," she stammered as she was frantically trying to set up a quick study area, she apparently wasn't expecting anyone to come looking for her, "What brings you up here?"

"Potions." he answered as he pulled his bag off of his shoulder and set it down on the floor. He really didn't need to come up here to do his homework. He only needed to add a few more terms to the parchment and it would be done, but he wasn't going to tell Hermione that. He grabbed a chair and sat down next to her. "And to see how you were doing today."

"I'm fine." she answered, fidgeting with a paper.

"Bit of light reading?" Draco asked, looking towards the novel that was still in sight, despite Hermione's quick attempt to hide it. Hermione usually didn't read anything fiction. She liked the straight facts. He figured she might be running out of non-fiction to read.

"Yea." she replied, her voice sounded far away.

Hermione turned and looked out the window. Draco followed to see what had caught her attention outside. He could see the Quidditch Pitch and saw that the Gryffindor team was practicing for their upcoming game against Slytherin.

"Draco?" Hermione slowly turned back to face him with a serious expression on her face as he reached for his book and a few pieces of parchment.

"What is it, Hermione?" he said, setting his things on the desk.

"Well, can I ask you a…personal question?" she asked. Her hand dropped down to her bag, and then her fingers grazed the binding of her novel. Her eyes followed the trail of her hand.

"Yea, sure." he said, pretending to work on his homework.

Hermione turned her body to face him, placing her hands in her lap.

"If you…say, if you really liked…someone a lot," she hesitated, rolling her thumbs over one another, "How would you…you go about telling them?"

Draco stared at his book, not focusing on the words. He was trying to find his voice to answer her, but couldn't. He was thankful that he was sitting, because he was sure that he would have hit the floor if she asked him that while standing.

_How can I give advice on that if I can't even do it myself?_

"What brings this about?" he asked, trying to fight the funny feeling that was building in his stomach. At least his voice wasn't as shaky as he felt. He was grateful for that.

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh.

"Nevermind, just been…thinking about stuff," she said as she turned back to the desk, "Maybe I'll just ask Luna about it."

As happy as Draco was that Hermione had another friend, especially one that was a girl, so that they could talk about this kind of stuff, he had a feeling that Luna wouldn't be much help in this particular field. Not that he would ever admit this to Hermione though. Now, if Hermione had a…what was it again…a Nargle problem, whatever a Nargle was, then Luna would have the perfect solution to fix it.

After all, it was a well known fact that Luna's father wrote for the Quibbler. It was similar to the Daily Prophet. You could find top stories of the wizarding world in there. But, different from the Prophet, the Quibbler also covered stories of strange creature sightings. This was where Draco figured the story of the Nargles came from.

"Well, just be cautious when you ask her," he warned her, "She might think that Nargles did something to your brain." He was trying to lighten the awkward mood.

Then, Draco reached up his hand and placed it on her shoulder. He, himself, was being cautious with his next move.

"But being serious, if I wanted to tell someone that I really liked them…" Draco paused, waiting for her to look at him before he would continue; she turned her head towards him, and "I'd want to make sure it was the perfect moment."

He looked into her warm, chocolate eyes. Suddenly, the moment felt as perfect as any to Draco.

"Hermione, I-"

"Hermione?" a dreamy voice, which had drowned out Draco's own, called out from not too far from where he and Hermione sat.

"Over here, Luna." Hermione replied back to the voice.

Then, a girl came around the corner. She had long, blonde hair that reached down to her waist. In her arms, she held the latest edition of the Quibbler. Most of her face was covered by a strange pair of, what looked to be glasses. The rims were jagged, like an explosion. The actual lenses, which had a sort of silver shade to them, looked as if they could spin. On the outermost part of the jagged rims, set something that looked like antennae-like receivers. The girl smiled as she entered the study area.

"Oh, Hermione, I was wonder if I could ask for your assistance with something?" Luna asked.

"Sure," Hermione said with a smile for her friend, "What do you need?"

"Umm…" she said as she turned her head down to look at her feet. Draco and Hermione did the same. They saw that her feet were bare. Apparently, it was a running gag in the Ravenclaw House to take Luna's things and hid them in various places over the school. Draco thought it was rather stupid and immature.

"Oh, ok," Hermione said, "As long as Draco doesn't need any help with his homework." She looked back to see if he did.

"No, I'm good." he replied as he pretended to get back to work.

So, Hermione gathered up her books and put them in her bag. Then, she threw her bag up on her shoulder. Draco had to stand up to let her out. As she passed, he could smell something floral.

_Wait! When did she start wearing perfume?_

"I'll see you later." she said, once she was out of the study area and had joined Luna.

"Yea, ok." he sat back down and grabbed his quill.

Hermione waved good-bye, and then she and Luna went off on their new mission. He waved at the air where she had just been standing. Then, laid his head down on the desk.

_You have some damn good timing there, Luna. _

After a moment or so, he sat back up, put away the clean parchment that he pulled out in front of Hermione and got the parchment that he had actually done his homework on and finished up the last few things that it needed. Then, he gathered up his things and left the library.

Draco made his way through the castle to the Ground floor. He went outside and headed towards the Quidditch Pitch. He was planning doing something about the way his friends acted last night. As he approached the field, he could see the Gryffindor team heading towards the ground. He knew that meant practice was over for the day.

_Perfect._ He thought as he picked up the pace of his step.

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**Reviews are welcomed! ^_^v**


	6. Chapter 6

Ron and Harry were walking out of the Gryffindor tent, as Draco reached the Quidditch Pitch. The rest of the team followed them. Each of them congratulating one another for a good practice as the team parted ways. One could tell that the Gryffindor team was pumped and ready for their upcoming match against Slytherin in the next few weeks.

Draco crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for Ron and Harry. When the two saw Draco, they waved at him. Draco just nodded at them, acknowledging them. Ron and Harry hurried, despite looking slightly worn out, to meet Draco.

"Hey Malfoy!" Ron shouted with a grin as he and Harry were closing in on Draco.

Draco gave a slight wave of his hand to the two. He couldn't imagine why Ron was smiling, and then Draco noticed some girls off to the side, giggling as if they were mad. Draco rolled his eyes.

_I've created a bloody monster._

Draco shifted his weight as Ron and Harry reached him. For just being practice, Draco had to admit that, Ron and Harry looked rough. Harry was the Seeker for the team. Ron was the Keeper for the Gryffindor team.

"What's wrong with you, mate?" Ron asked, when he finally noticed Draco's tense mood. Ron had a bewildered look on his face.

The three stood there in silence for a few moments.

"Maybe…he might still be upset with you for the way you teased Granger last night, Ron," Harry finally broke the awkward tension, "Well, the way we teased her." A guilty look crossed Harry's face. Ron looked at Harry with a confused expression. Then, after a few seconds, Ron, looking as if someone had turned the light on, seemed to remember the incident.

"Oh, come on, mate!" Ron said as he playfully slapped Draco on the back. "I was only messing around, like we always do."

Ron looked over to Harry.

"Oh, yeah, you know how it is. We just wanted to see if she would play along…how playful Granger was" Harry said as he shifted his Firebolt from one shoulder to the other.

Draco hadn't thought of that. He knew that these two loved to play around with girls and pull pranks. He just never cared about it until it was Hermione, which he took very seriously. Suddenly, Draco felt rather silly. He felt bad for getting angry with his friends.

"Well…now you know she isn't like that," Draco finally said, "You two really upset her."

Ron had a look of concern on his face. Harry was staring at his feet, so Draco couldn't tell what his expression was.

"I'm so sorry, I had no idea." Ron said, his voice reflecting the apology that he just said. His eyes searched the ground, as if he was looking for something. "Is there…anything I could do, ya know, to make it up to her?"

Ron had one of the most serious expressions that Draco had ever seen the boy wear. Draco considered his answer for a moment. Then, he figured what would be the best thing for Ron and Harry to do.

"First things first, you both need to apologize to Hermione," Draco said, "Then…then see what she says you have to do to make it up."

Ron looked over at Harry, who gave him a quick nod back in return.

"Sounds fair enough." Ron said.

"Sounds reasonable." Harry chimed in.

Draco let out a relived sigh. He was a little worried how Ron and Harry would take having to apologize to a girl. He was glad that everything was going to be cleared up soon.

Suddenly, while Draco was lost in his thoughts, Ron moved his hand from Draco's back up to his head and messed up Draco's hair. One thing that irked Draco was for people to touch and mess up his hair. Draco removed Ron's hand and quickly flattened his hair back down, with Ron laughing all the while.

"Mates?" Ron asked, extending his hand to offer a handshake to Draco. After a few seconds of hesitation, Draco took the handshake.

"Mates," Draco replied, then with a mischievous look in his eyes, "But I will get you back for that." He was already considering the possibilities for payback.

"Well, if you two are done playing around, I would like to get to eat lunch sometime." Harry said, his arms crossed and his foot tapping.

"Oh! I'm starved!" Ron was putting on theatrics, grabbing his stomach.

The three boys laughed and talked as they climbed back up to the castle. Draco was thankful that he didn't have to be mad at his friends.

* * *

**Reviews are welcomed!**


	7. Chapter 7

When the boys reached the Great Hall, Draco saw that the number of students had increased for lunch. The three made their way to the Gryffindor table and settled into a section away from the others sitting there. Ron and Harry were still talking about how the Gryffindor team was going to win the match against Slythern next month.

Draco was thankful that his friends had picked a secluded spot at the table. Even though Draco had been friends with Hermione, Ron and Harry since their First year, he had to deal with Slytherins that hardly attempted to hide their disgust for him being friends with Gryffindors and that some Gryffindors still sneered when they saw him coming. He was used to this, but Draco preferred to keep a distance between his Slytherin self and them.

He didn't just receive that kind of treatment from his classmates at school, though. When he went home for winter break in his First year, he had told his parents about being friends with Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, nearly flipped his lid. Lucius started ranting about how 'these Muggle loving excuses for wizards was to blame for the wizarding world's downfall.'

It only got worse for Draco when he told them about Hermione Granger. Draco admitted he was fascinated how a Muggle born could be so smart and adapt to the wizarding world like she did. This news did set Lucius off. He blamed Muggle loving acquaintances that Draco kept. He also went on about how they had clouded Draco's judgment and made Draco want to have associations with Mudbloods. The news that her son was friends with a Muggle born sent Narcissa, his mother, into crying hysterics. Since then, Lucius always had a disappointed expression for Draco.

"Malfoy?" Ron and Harry called Draco out of his thoughts. They both looked a little worried.

"Sorry…just thinking." Draco said, shaking his head, trying to forget what he had been thinking about.

"You know, you have been spacing out a lot lately." Harry pointed out.

"And we want to know why that is." Ron continued, arching his eyebrow.

Draco knew he couldn't just tell them what was going on with him lately. He contemplated his answer before he spoke, watching Ron make, what seemed to be, a second plate of food.

"Just stuff at home."

Draco had told Ron and Harry about how parents and their eccentric ways. As far as Draco knew, it seemed that the only thing he had done right since coming to Hogwarts was getting into Slytherin. To his parents, at least.

"Sorry to hear that." Ron said, "Hope it gets better for ya." Harry nodded in agreement, not being able to speak with food in his mouth.

"Thanks." Draco said. Then, he turned around and took a quick glance around the room.

"Looking for something, Malfoy?" Ron managed to say through a mouthful of food.

"Yea," Draco said, turning back to the table to get himself a snack, "Making sure Pansy isn't here." He rolled his eyes when he said her name. Draco wasn't completely lying; he did go out of his way to avoid her.

"You know, she might be good for you." Harry said, staring at his plate.

"Yeah, you been so busy studying, you should get out and have fun." Ron added.

Draco shrugged. He did have a reason for studying more, as of lately. That reason wasn't his grades, not that Draco didn't do well in his classes.

"Speaking of studying…" Harry said, shifting his glance from his plate up to Ron, whose eyes got wide and eyebrows shot up.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed. Ron and Harry turned to face Draco.

"Could we?" Ron asked, his eyes begging Draco.

"Please?" Harry added.

Of course these two hadn't done their homework for the weekend. Draco was glad that the only assignment that was due tomorrow had been a short Potions essay.

"You two know you owe me," Draco said as he pulled his bag off his back and pulled out his homework, some spare parchment and his extra quills. "A lot."

"You're the best, mate." Ron said. He and Harry were reaching out to retrieve the items that Draco was handing them.

"I know." Draco said, looking smug.

The three chattered aimlessly while Ron and Harry copied Draco's paper. After a while, the Great Hall was starting to fill with students coming for supper. Draco's eyes kept darting back to the entrance.

Finally, Ron and Harry finished the paper and handed back Draco's original. By this time, the Great Hall had gotten quite noisy and the tables were steadying filling up.

"Look here, Fred." said a voice from behind Ron.

"Well I'll be, George, is little Ron actually doing his work?" replied a voice form behind Harry. "And Harry too?"

Draco looked up to see a pair of identical twins with ginger hair, like Ron's. Fred and George were acting like proud parents because they had caught Ron and Harry working. Well, working on actual school work, not just scheming with the Twins about pranks to play.

"Oh, that doesn't count." the Twins said together. Draco saw that they were looking at him as he was putting his paper and quills away in his bag. Draco knew that the Twins figured that Ron and Harry had just copied from him.

The Weasley family wasn't as hateful to Draco as his own family was about them. Granted, the family took it as a shock that Ron had befriended Draco, but they got used to it and accepted it. Well, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the ones at school did. Draco really didn't know the other ones.

Draco thought well of the family. They had always been nice to him, whenever he, Ron and Harry would get together during breaks. Harry seemed to spend his breaks over at the Weasley house as much as he could. It was like they were the family he always wanted. Harry mentioned many times that he didn't want to live with his Muggle family, which consisted of his uncle, aunt and their son.

Draco turned to look at his friend. Harry was smiling as he listened to the Twin prattled on about some new candy they were working on. Looking at him, Draco thought that he deserved to be smiling. After all, he had lost his parents, Lily and James Potter, when he was just a year old. They had been killed in some dragon incident. Harry's life hadn't gotten any better before he came to school.

"Hey Harry!" a happy, girly voice came from down the table. Everyone turned to see a ginger-haired girl walking towards their little group. Ginny Weasley, the youngest, was waving at them. She took a seat next to Harry. "Hey Draco." She took her eyes off Harry for only a second, to greet Draco, then back to Harry.

More students were coming in, so Draco figured that he should head over to the Slytherin table. The Gryffindors did deserve their own table. The Twins said their farewell, then went to sit with their friend, Lee. Ginny and Harry were off in their own conversation. As Draco go to his feet, Ron slid him a folded up piece of parchment. Then, he and Harry said their usual 'see ya later.' Draco nodded at them and started walking to the Slytherin table.

Draco waited until he was halfway across the room before he unfolded the note to read it.

_Malfoy-_

_I feel really bad about what happened with Granger. Like I said before, I wanna make it up to her. Maybe next time we hang out, you can invite her. So we can get to know her better._

_Thanks mate_

_-Ron_

For some reason, reading the note made Draco's stomach twist into a knot.

* * *

**Hmm, seems like Ron has something planned here!**

**Reviews are welcomed!**


	8. Chapter 8

Draco couldn't understand why he had lost his appetite and felt uneasy since reading the note Ron gave him. So, instead of going to the Slytherin table, he turned and walked out of the Great Hall. He decided that he should just go lay down, so he headed for the dungeons to go to the Slytherin house. There were a few people that he passed on his way, but no one bothered Draco. He climbed through the entrance to the House and went to his dormitory. He tossed his bag on top of his trunk and sat down on his bed, his face in his hands.

_Everything is finally going right, so why do I feel sick to my stomach about it?_ Draco pondered as he fell back onto his bed, letting his arms fall on either side of him, staring up at nothing in particular. He had wanted Hermione to be friends with Ron and Harry. She always seemed really nervous when Draco brought that subject up with her, so he never pushed her about it.

Draco let out a sigh; then, sat back up and got back on his feet again. He figured that it would be better for him to just stay in the dormitory for the night and go to bed early. So, he changed out of his uniform and put on a pair of pajama pants.

As he got back onto his bed, Draco felt a headache coming on. He thought that it was from the stress of the day. He laid down and tried to relax. Eventually, he fell a restless sleep.

* * *

Draco tossed and turned all night. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, he decided to get up. Being so early in the morning, Draco figured that there wouldn't be anyone else awake. He grabbed a shirt to put on his bare chest and quietly walked out of the room, going into the common room. With a quick glance, he saw that he was right about no one else being up. He saw that the fire was still burning in the fireplace. He walked over to the sofa that was in front of the fireplace and sat down. Draco watched the flames dance over one another, slowly consuming the logs beneath them.

_Wonder what Hermione is doing right now?_ He thought to himself. Then, images flashed through his mind of Hermione sleeping in a bed, similar to his that was in his dormitory. He imagined that she would curl herself into a ball, her hair tied back and her snuggling up to her pillow. In another picture that he imagined, Draco could see that she might splay herself across her bed. Draco couldn't help but to chuckle thinking about how Hermione might be sleeping. He found both extremes to be very cute in their own way.

Draco sat in front of the flame, watching it twist this way and that way burning for some time. Soon, he realized that his Housemates would be waking up soon. As if they were on queue, he could hear people stirring in the dormitories. He went back to his own, taking his time, to change into his uniform and get ready for the day.

As he grabbed his school bag to put his books and supplies in for the day, he saw the note Ron had given him last night sitting on his nightstand. Draco turned his attention back to the task at hand. His dorm mates were getting ready around him, so he threw the note in his bag, to avoid anyone seeing it.

Once Draco had his things set, he felt the result of skipping dinner last night. On that note, he left the dormitory. Then, he followed a few of the other Slytherins that were leaving and headed up to the Great Hall.

There were a number of students in there when Draco reach the Great Hall, but none of them was the one Draco wanted to see. He went over to the Slytherin table and slowly ate a couple platefuls of breakfast food.

After feeling that he had lollygagged long enough (and to avoid Pansy, he knew that she should be coming soon), Draco got to his feet, left the Great Hall and started to head up the stairs to the Transfiguration classroom. He was climbing the steps when he heard a pair of familiar voices from a flight above him. He looked up to see Hermione and Luna chatting animatedly, as the descended down the stairs.

Just seeing Hermione made Draco feel better. He stopped on the step he was about to climb and waited for the girls to reach him. When they got to the top stair of the flight he was standing on, Hermione and Luna looked at him and Hermione smiled at him.

"Oh, Draco, are you feeling better?" Luna asked. Luna was the only student, aside from Hermione, that called him by his first name. Draco figured she picked the habit up from Hermione. Draco really didn't really mind that Luna did it, anyway.

"What?" Draco was confused.

"Well, we found my missing things," she paused to point out her feet were indeed covered and no longer bare, "And went down to the Great Hall to eat supper. We saw that you were already walking out and you didn't look like you were feeling good." Luna finished with a caring smile. She always did have a knack for speaking the out right truth.

"Oh, I-I'm good. Thanks." Draco replied.

"Well, I'm going to go on," Luna said, taking a few steps away from Hermione, only to turn back and say, "I'll see you down there, ok?"

"Yeah, ok, see you soon." Hermione said.

Luna turned back around and continued walking down the flight. As she slowly passed Draco, she gave him a wink and had a smile that said she was up to something. Then, she went around the corner as was gone.

"Are you really alright?" Hermione asked, taking a step closer to Draco, "I was worried about you."

Draco's heart skipped a beat. He reached his hand out and grabbed onto the railing of the staircase, then looked up at Hermione. She had her hair pulled up in a ponytail again. Her eyes went back and forth on his face, like she was searching for an answer.

"I'm good, Hermione," he said, smiling up at her, "Don't worry about me."

"But you're my best friend," she said, placing her hand on top of his that rested on the railing, as if for emphasis, "I can't help but worry about you." She had a slight tinge of pink going across her cheeks.

Draco felt his own face start to burn as blush crossed it. For a moment, they just stood there, not saying anything.

"Y-you're my best friend, too." Draco said, his thumb gently stroking her hand. "I'd be lost without you."

Hermione stared down at her feet, not saying anything for a moment. Draco could tell that she was hiding her face from him on purpose. He couldn't figure out why. Well, he did know how to read her expressions.

"I hate to do this, Draco, but, I better get going," she finally said, breaking his thought process, "Got to eat something." She slowly removed her hand from off his.

"Right! Sorry!" Draco shoved his hand into the pockets of his trousers.

"Well, see you in class later." Hermione started to walk down the stairs.

"Hermione?" he turned to catch her before she left.

"Yes?" she said with a cute smile.

"Just…I want to talk to you about something…later."

"Is something the matter?" she asked, starting to turn back around to face Draco, her face expressing that she was concerned.

"No, it's nothing serious," Draco said, "Just need to talk, later."

"Oh, ok. We will talk later, then." She turned back around and continued climbing down the steps. Draco watched her until she was out of sight. He noticed that floral scent again as she walked by him.

_So she is wearing perfume. But why?_

Draco pondered this as he turned back around and climbed up the steps to the Transfiguration class.

* * *

**Well, well. It seems the Hermione is trying to "do the girl thing"**

**Anywho, reviews are always welcomed. ^_^v**


	9. Chapter 9

Draco was early for class, so he sat down on a bench that wasn't too far from the Transfiguration classroom. Draco decided on a means to pass the time (and to get the fact that Hermione had started wearing perfume, off his mind) that he would organize his notes. As he was sorting through the parchments, he thought about how Hermione had been nagging at him. She was always telling him that he needed to have better organization with his notes. Draco knew that she was right. After all, this year is the year that they would be taking the O.W.L.s and Draco needed them to study for the test. Depending on how well he did on the O.W.L.s, would determine what N.E.W.T.-level classes Draco would get to take next term. Even though he still wasn't sure what he wanted to do after he got out of school, he still wanted to have good scores.

Putting his notes in order didn't take long, but students were soon all around him. They were all traveling to their first class of the morning. Draco saw some of his classmates going into the Transfiguration classroom, so he followed suit. Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk, looking like she was grading some homework or other work. Rather sluggishly, Draco went to his usual seat at the back of the room as the classroom was filling up.

* * *

His Transfiguration and Charms classes went by very slowly to Draco. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were lecturing about what was to be expected with the up-coming lessons and the O.W.L.s, so that meant taking notes was required. In addition, meaning staying awake was required, as well. Draco was feeling slightly lethargic from the lack of sleep that he got the night before.

As he left the room for the morning break between classes, Draco wished that he could have used the break to go take a nap, but he had something to take care of. Besides, he might not just take a nap, Draco knew most likely he would just sleep the rest of the day away. He was waiting for Hermione to exit the classroom. Draco, typically, sat at the back of the class, so he was usually one of the first people to leave. On the other hand, Hermione always sat up in the front, so it took her longer to leave. Draco was waiting for her outside of the History of Magic classroom.

"Hello Draco." Hermione said, walking out of the door.

"Hey Hermione." he replied. Draco could feel a goofy grin spread over his face.

"You said you needed to talk to me about something?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"Yeah, um…let's go talk in the library." Draco said. Hermione nodded in agreement with him.

The two headed off towards the library. They walked down the corridor side by side, in silence. Draco had to resist the temptation to reach out and grab Hermione's hand to hold as they walked. They reached the library and went back to Hermione's favorite study area.

"Ok…" Draco started, as they put their bags down on the floor and took their seats. He was trying to figure how to word the message that he had to relay to Hermione.

"Ok?" Hermione repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Draco let out a sigh, attempting to fight off a foreboding feeling that was building.

"Well…I talked to Ron and Harry," Draco saw that Hermione shifted, somewhat uncomfortably, in her seat when he had said their names, "And they want to apologize to you, in person."

Hermione let out a breath that Draco didn't realize that she had been holding. She looked like she was trying to figure out some difficult Arithmetic problem in her head. It was a moment before she spoke again.

"O-ok." she said, staring at the floor.

"And they…they wanted me to invite you to hang out with us, like the next time we go to Hogsmeade," Draco was watching her reactions as he talked, "Or whatever you like."

Hermione let out a soft chuckle.

"Or maybe we could study together." she said, Draco could tell she was smiling. "Just promise me one thing, Draco." She slowly looked up from the floor, up to his eyes. Hermione's eyes were warm and sparkling.

_Doesn't she know I would do anything she asked of me by now?_

"And that would be?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"Just don't leave me alone," she put her hand on top of his hand, which was resting on his knee. She leaned forward a little and smiled sweetly. "Please?"

Draco just nodded his head. He didn't want to risk speaking out loud and let his voice give away how nervous he was.

Suddenly, he could see it all play out in his mind. Draco would lean in towards Hermione. He would take hold of the hand that rested on top of his and hold it. He would kiss her, softly and gently. With his other hand, he would pull their bodies closer together. Then, Draco would bring his hand up to the nape of her neck, holding her head. Hermione's fingers running through his blonde hair.

"Draco?" Hermione voice pulled him out of his fantasy.

"Sorry." He said, not being able to look at her in the face. He focused on her hand to distract himself.

_Doesn't she realize that she is driving me mad?_

"Guess we should start heading up to class." he said, trying to regain composure.

"Yeah…we wouldn't want Professor Lupin to be worrying about us and our whereabouts." she said, removing her hand from atop his. As she reached for her bag, Draco could still feel the warmth of her touch linger on his hand. Draco could feel the grin cross his face, thinking about his fantasy of kissing her.

"Well, I'll see you in class, Draco." she said, getting up to leave.

"See ya there." he said as she walked out of the study area and left. As she was leaving, Hermione waved back at Draco.

Draco felt like a burden had been lifted off him. Hermione was going to be friends with Ron and Harry, hopefully. Then, as quickly as the relief had come, it was gone. Relief had been replaced with a sinking feeling. Draco wished that he could figure out what was going on with himself.

He shook his head, attempting to shake off the feeling, as he got up and grabbed his bag from off the floor. It was a futile attempt, the feeling stayed with him all the way to the classroom.

* * *

**Thank you for all the reviews! ^_^ I have to give House points to my Twitter friend, imjustanerd, and to my sister, Sarah. They have helped me so much.**

**Alrighty! Reviews are welcomed! **

**Mucho lurve!**


	10. Chapter 10

Draco saw that Professor Lupin was writing notes about today's lesson upon the black board, as Draco walked into the classroom. The students were lost in their idle chatter as they caught up with one another before class started. Hermione was already sitting in her seat, front and center, ready for the lesson to begin. Draco smiled, then, he walked over to his usual seat, where Ron and Harry were sitting. As he approached, it looked, to Draco, as if the two were planning something. Draco could not help but wonder who was going to be the unlucky victim this time. As he sat down with them, they quickly put away the parchments they were working on.

"Hello Weasley, hello Potter." Draco said, nodding at each of the boys as he said their names.

"Hey Malfoy." Ron said.

"Hello Malfoy." Harry added.

At that moment, the bell chimed for class to start. Lupin called the class to order. Soon, the room was dead silent.

"Good day to you class," Lupin said, with a smile, "Now, today we are going to start learning about curses. Although, the Ministry doesn't want you to learn about this subject until your Sixth year, I feel it would be best to make you aware of curses. After all, they might even be on your O.W.L.s."

The entire class was keenly paying attention to Professor Lupin. They were anticipating what Lupin was going to teach them. The professor, explaining what he had scribbled up on the black board, showed that the class was going to learn about the origins of curses. Later, they would study common curses and how to deal with them. Gradually, Lupin explain, the class would work their way through the different levels of curses. The class was taking notes rather excitedly this class.

* * *

The bell rang out for class to end and for the students to head to the Great Hall for lunch. Draco, Ron and Harry were out the door before most the class had gotten out of their seats. Draco expected Ron and Harry to run on down to the Great Hall to start eating lunch, while he waited for Hermione, like usual. Instead, they stayed back with Draco.

"So, Malfoy, I have to know if you have talked to Granger, yet." Ron said, looking down at his shoes.

_What is up with Ron lately?_

"Uh...yeah...I did," Draco answered, "She said she would talk with the two of you." Then, Draco leaned back against the wall as he waited for Hermione. "You guys don't have to wait for me. You both can go ahead to the Great Hall." Ron never misses an opportunity to eat, so Draco knew that something was up with Ron.

"Actually, Ron and I were talking…" Harry started

"And we decided that we want to apologize to Granger as soon as we could." Ron continued. Slowly, Ron raised his gaze from his feet to Draco. He really looked like he was bothered by the whole ordeal.

"Hey Dra-" Hermione froze as soon as she walked out of the classroom and saw Ron and Harry standing there with Draco. All three boys turned their attention to her. Hermione's face had turned a very light shade of pink. She stood very still, as though she had been Petrified on the spot.

"Hey Hermione." Draco said, motioning for her to come and stand next to him.

Slowly, Hermione walked over to where Draco was standing, keeping her face down as she made her way to him. Once she reached him, Hermione stood a little behind Draco, as if to protect and shield her. Out of sight from Ron and Harry, Draco felt Hermione grab hold of the sleeve of his cloak.

"Hermione, these two have something to say to you." Draco said over his shoulder to her. She looked up at Ron and Harry, looking a little scared.

Suddenly, Ron and Harry, as if they had synchronized the maneuver, dropped down on one knee. Both of them were looking down.

"Miss Granger, we are both terribly sorry for what happened the other night." Ron looked up to Hermione, a very earnest look in his eyes, "Can you forgive us?"

Passing students snickered at the scene as they walked by. Even Draco had to admit that the sight looked strange to him. The Gryffindor playboys, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, were both down on one knee. They both were looking endearingly at Hermione Granger, the girl that most people over-looked. In addition, there was Draco was standing in the middle of Hermione and the boys, in something like a protective stance in front of Hermione.

Draco could tell when Hermione let go of his sleeve. He heard her take a deep breath from behind him. Then, she walked around Draco and over to where Ron and Harry were still kneeling down. Once there, she crouched down to be at eye level with the boys.

An apprehensive feeling overcame Draco. Then, Hermione did something that Draco never thought she was capable of. Or could even imagine her doing.

Draco watched as Hermione slowly raise up her right hand. Suddenly, with a loud smack, Hermione slapped Ron across the face. Then, she turned and backhanded Harry in the face. Both of the boys fell backwards, on their bottoms, and looked as shocked as Draco felt.

"That felt good." Hermione said as she got back up and turned to face Draco. She had a very smug look on her face and a fierce look in her eyes as she walked back over to him. Students that saw the incident ran off to tell their friends what they just saw.

"Draco, you should close your mouth now." Hermione said, stopping next to him.

Draco had not even realized that his mouth had been hanging open. Hermione reached up and placed her hand on his lower jaw. She, gently, closed his moth for him, with a quiet click of his teeth.

"Come on, Draco, let's go to lunch." she said with a chuckle. Then, she grabbed hold of his sleeve and pulling him along with her, almost tripping him.

As he steadied himself up, Draco could see that Ron and Harry were still in shock, each of their faces still had the handprint of Hermione's attack. The few students that were still in the corridor mirrored the expression of shock that Ron and Harry had.

"Oh, and by the way, I forgive you two now!" Hermione shouted over her shoulder at Ron and Harry as she sauntered off to the Great Hall, still clutching Draco's sleeve.

* * *

**Thank you for all the reviews, favorites and such! ^_^**

**I have to give more House points to my Twitter friend, imjustanerd, and to my sister. Both have done their share of helping me!**

**Reviews are welcomed! **

**Mucho lurve!**


	11. Chapter 11

"What a rush!" Hermione said. Draco could tell from her voice that she was smiling. He couldn't find his own voice until they had reached the ground floor. Hermione stopped a few feet from the Great Hall entrance, still holding onto Draco's cloak sleeve.

"Hermione, that was…" Draco's vocabulary seemed to have dwindled away while he was in shock. "Wow…"

She let go of his sleeve, turned around and looked him straight on. Draco saw that some of the new fierce look in her eyes had toned down a little and some of the usual warmth had replaced it. She seemed very pleased with the way that the whole situation had gone.

"Well, it's what they deserved." she stated it like it was an absolute fact, (It kind of was.) "And I don't regret it in the least." She glanced down at her hand; which was still red from hitting Ron and Harry.

"How's your hand?" Draco asked. He wanted to take her hand and check it out for himself, but instead, he held back and put his hands in his pockets.

"Its still stinging, but nothing serious." she replied as she turned and flexed her hand, examining it.

"Well…" Draco took a small step closer to her, "I'm…proud that you stood your ground and put the two of them in their proper place." Hermione bashfully smiled at him. "Also, you have given everyone something to talk about."

"What are we talking about?" Luna asked as she walked out of the Great Hall. "Oh, Hermione, I was getting worried about you." she said as she walked over to where Draco and Hermione were standing. "I trust by your expressions that it went well?"

"Luna, you won't believe it! I actually slapped the both of them!" Hermione sounded as giddy as a young child that found their favorite wizard card in a pack of chocolate frogs.

As Draco, Hermione and Luna walked into the Great Hall together; Hermione excitedly recounted the story to Luna. Draco had to part ways with the girls and go to the Slytherin table. Hermione and Luna were in luck that the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables were next to each other.

While he walked to his House table, Draco watched Hermione, still very animatedly, tell Luna about what had happened as they sat at their respective tables, still close enough to talk. Draco also noticed some of the students pointing to Hermione and whispering to one another. He tried to not pay them any mind as he ate his lunch quickly.

* * *

After Draco and Hermione had finished their lunches in a rush, Luna joined them as they walked out to the courtyard. The bell was ringing, signaling the end of lunch and the beginning of the second break of the day. Luna was discussing a recent article that was in the _Quibbler_ about ancient runes with Hermione. After all, she was studying and taking a class on the subject. As for Draco, he really didn't understand what the girls were talking about, so he just smiled and listened while they found a bench to sit on. Letting the girls sit on the bench, Draco sat down on the ground in front of where Hermione and Luna sat.

After a few moments though, Luna suddenly remembered that she needed to write a letter to her father. She waved good-bye and ran back into the castle, leaving Draco and Hermione alone. Draco moved up onto the seat with Hermione.

Draco turned to look at her. The little bit of sunlight that broke through the clouds seemed to beam down on Hermione. The sunshine made her brown hair glisten. Her eyes were shimmering, they had gone completely back to the soft and warm ones that Draco felt himself get lost in. She smiled very sweetly and kindly. He was mesmerized by her.

"Hermione, you're beautiful…"

Draco didn't realize that he had said the thought out loud until it was too late. A gust of wind rushed by them, rustling the trees and whipping Hermione's hair around.

"Sorry, did you say something, Draco?" she asked, combing her hair with her fingers to straighten it back down.

"No," Draco let out a sigh, "Didn't say anything."

He stood up, running his fingers through his hair as well, only to fix it back right away. He was thankful that she didn't hear his slip up. He decided that he should go see how his friends were recovering from earlier.

"I-I'm going to check on Ron and Harry," he turned and smiled at Hermione, "See you in Potions."

"Ok, see you there." she responded.

He needed an excuse to get away before she could trick him into out right confessing his feelings for her. Also, as a good friend, he should go check on the two boys. He waved back at Hermione as he walked away. She returned that wave.

* * *

Once he was out of sight and walking back into the castle, Hermione let out a sigh. Her shoulders slumped down.

"I hate lying to Draco," she said to herself, "But it would have been nice to hear him say it again."

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	12. Chapter 12

_I can't believe that I said that. I mean I said it practically to her face! _Draco thought to himself as he walked to the Great Hall to search for Ron and Harry. He had already looked around the Ground Floor and the first few floors for them. So, he figured that the boys might be in the Great Hall, eating. As he entered the room, his eyes immediately went to the Gryffindor table. Sure enough, Draco spotted the back side of Ron's ginger hair and Harry was on the opposite side; facing towards where Draco stood, but it seemed Harry didn't see Draco. He started walking to them as Draco noticed that the two of them were engrossed in a conversation, well, as much as Ron could while he kept stuffing his mouth.

"Hello boys." Draco said as he approached Ron and Harry. They stopped talking and eating as Draco joined them.

_Ok, I understand that you both are upset, but isn't the silent treatment a little bit childish by now?_

"I came to see how you two were doing." he said. Draco sat down on the bench next to Ron, but he kept a small distance between them.

"Well, can't say we didn't expect to get something like that might happen someday…" Harry said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"But not from Granger. Bit of a firecracker, that one." Ron added on, with a light chuckle.

"Yeah, I know." Draco agreed. In his imagination, he could never see the sweet, meek little girl, he felt that he needed to protect, could ever out right hit anyone.

"So, are we clear of any Granger danger?" Ron asked, "I mean, she did say that she forgave us."

Draco thought quickly about his answer.

"You two can check for yourselves, we do have Double Potions soon." Draco said.

"One more thing, Malfoy," Harry spoke up, leaning forward on the table, "If she still seems mad, could you…" He paused as if he wasn't sure of what he wanted to say or how to say it.

"I think what Harry means that if Granger is still mad, give us a warning." Ron interjected. He looked at Harry, who nodded in agreement with Ron.

"As long as you two behave and do not act like complete buffoons, then everything should be good." Draco answered. Harry and Ron's eyes went behind Draco and focused on whatever was there. Draco hoped that it wasn't Peeves the Poltergeist making a visit.

"Hey Draco. Who is acting like a complete buffoon?"

No, that voice definitely did not sound like Peeves at all.

"Hey Hermione. Haha, no one yet." Draco turned to look at her, but as soon as he did, he remembered his fumble out in the courtyard and blushed slightly. Draco turned back to the table as Hermione sat down beside him. The four of them sat in silence for a moment.

"Well, I suppose that proper introductions are in order here." Harry said, looking at Draco.

"Right, Hermione Granger, this is Ron Weasley." Draco gestured to each of them as he said their names. The sinking feeling in Draco's stomach came back when he saw Ron flash a smile at Hermione, but as usual, Draco ignored it.

"Charmed." was Hermione's response. Draco saw that the look in her eyes said that she was a little less than charmed by Ron, but she put on a friendly smile.

"Pleasure is all mine, Miss Granger." Ron said. Leaning on the table, he reached around the front of Draco, to offer Hermione a handshake. She was hesitant, but she took the offer. She pulled her hand back quickly, then commenced to stare at the table.

"And this is Harry Potter." Draco continued with the introductions, pointing out Harry across the table.

"Enchanted to make your acquaintance, Miss Granger." Harry said as he adjusted his glasses up higher on his nose. He gave her a nod and a smile. For some strange reason, Harry's smile didn't affect Draco like Ron's did.

"Delighted." Hermione looked up from the table. She waved at him and gave him the same friendly smile that she gave Ron. Then, she resumed with staring at the table.

" I suppose we should be heading to the dungeons." Ron said, getting to his feet. Harry got up as well.

"I'll see you in the classroom." Draco said. He was focusing on his hands that laid on the table in front of him, keeping himself distracted.

Draco heard the swishing sound of their cloaks and their footsteps slowly fade away, as well as their hushed voices. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione had moved herself a little closer to him. Then, she laid her head on his arm.

"Thank you so much, Draco." she said. Draco was wondering what in the wizarding world she could possibly be thanking him for.

_Well, I'm certainly glad that I did whatever it was that I did._

"You're welcome, Hermione." he replied.

Then, Hermione sat back up right and smiled at him. Like it was an automatic response, he returned the smile.

"Ok, let's get to Potions." she said, sounding excited about going to the class as only she could be. She got up and started heading for the door, her ponytail swaying from side to side with every step she took. He watched her as she walked out to the corridor.

Draco got up and jogged after her. He knew that they were going to have to run to make it in time before class started, and before Professor Snape had the chance to begin handing out detentions and deducting House Points. As he walked out of the Great Hall, Draco saw that Hermione was waiting for him.

"Come on, Draco, I do not want to be late." she said sounding slightly impatient at him, tapping her foot. She smiled as he walked next to her. So, the two of them headed towards the dungeons, of to Potions class.

* * *

**Hehe, House Points to those who recognize the subliminal message. ^_^ **

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, etc! **


	13. Chapter 13

Draco and Hermione ran through the chilly dungeons until they reached the classroom. They made it inside just as the bell was ringing to initiate the start of class. Breathlessly, the two of them walked over to Draco's usual table, where Ron and Harry sat. Draco figured that Hermione didn't want to make a scene by going to the front of the room and sitting in her normal seat, since she followed him to his table.

Professor Snape looked at Draco and had an expression that seemed like Snape had eaten something that had gone bad; well, even more so than he usually did. Then, the professor promptly started class. Draco quickly sat down next to Ron. Hermione sat on Draco's other side. She did not waste anytime getting her parchment, quill and book out to take notes.

Throughout the rest of Snape's boring lecture, Hermione hardly took her eyes off of her notes, except to look at the blackboard to copy what was up there and to look at her textbook. Ron was practically falling asleep during Snape's lesson. Harry was meticulously working on something that didn't seem like Potions, but Draco couldn't see what it was. So, Draco just focused on his own notes; at least, getting all his references correct to make his own later.

_Well, isn't this fun?_

Snape's monotonous voice droned on until the bell chimed again, signaling the end of classes for the day. Snape assigned another essay that was due later on the week. With a collaborative groan, the students headed for the door, eager to escape the dungeons to get to their free time.

"Whad I miss?" Ron asked with a yawn. He blinked a few times and stretched to wake himself up. Draco could have sworn that he heard Hermione let out a small giggle at Ron, but it could have just been the other female students that were passing them to leave. Draco wasn't sure which it was.

"Just a lot of notes." Harry said, pointing out his own collection.

"And another essay," Draco added, "Which I won't be doing for you."

"Bloody hell, I hate work." Ron said, still sounding sleepy and rubbing his eyes.

Harry got to his feet and was packing his supplies away. Ron was attempting to do the same, but was clumsier than usual, thanks to just waking up from a nap. He dropped his book, quills and parchment onto the table and floor. Harry and Draco bent down to the ground to retrieve the items that had fallen down there.

After they quickly gathered up and handed back Ron's belongings to him, Draco noticed something. Hermione, looking rather cute, was smiling and biting her lip, like she did when she was nervous or trying to hold back from laughing. Draco wasn't sure if the expression was a good thing or a bad one. The only thing that Draco was certain of was that he didn't like it at all. He couldn't explain this strange emotion that was coursing through him.

"We should get going." Draco said. He stuffed his book and pieces of parchment in his bag in a much hasted manor. Hermione nodded. She had already packed her things away.

Ron and Harry were waiting by the door for them. Draco saw Snape leering at the group as they left. As the four of them made their way through the dungeons, no one said a single word. Also, Ron and Harry kept themselves a few paces ahead of Draco and Hermione.

"Draco?" Hermione said meekly as they were crossing the ground floor corridor, she came to a stop. Draco stopped as well, ignoring that Ron and Harry were continuing to walk away, and turned to face Hermione.

"Yes, Hermione?" he replied.

"Well, I'm going to go find Luna and talk with her before dinner, ok?"

Draco let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, just be good and don't hit anyone else. I'd hate miss it if you did." Draco said. Then, he reached up and playfully tasseled with her hair.

"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed. She laughed and put her arms up to defend herself and her hair.

Draco took his hand back. Hermione, with her hands still protecting her hair from further damage, spit her tongue out at Draco.

"That's very immature of you, Miss Granger." Draco said sarcastically. "What are you? A First Year?"

"Oh, that is not your lecture to teach, Draco." Hermione put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him.

Draco smiled. He thought she looked cute when she was being sassy with him.

_Hell, when don't I think she looks cute?_

Hermione couldn't hold on to the serious look for more than a couple seconds before she started laughing and relaxed herself.

"Don't you have a friend to find?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, I'm going." She flashed him a quick smile. "See you later!" she said with a wave. Then, she took off for the stairs, going up to the First Floor. As usual, Draco watched her until she was out of sight.

Draco let out a sigh. Then, he headed back outside to the courtyard. He started walking over to his favorite tree to hide in. Draco decided that he needed to have some quiet, alone time.

As he crossed the courtyard, Draco noticed that ominous dark clouds that were starting to spread over the horizon, which meant he would have limited time outside. He couldn't help but think that it was inevitable that it couldn't be bright and sunshine all the time. After all, they did live in England.

He, also, couldn't help but relate the weather to how he was feeling. Draco thought about this as he was climbing and getting nestled into the tree. Usually, his life was nice, like a sunny day. Yes, there were some clouds, but overall, it was decent. Lately though, like the oncoming storm now, it seemed like the typically small clouds had expanded into large, dark clouds and started to overcome the sun.

Draco shook his head. He wasn't going to think about such things. As he lay back against the tree, one thing did continue to bother him. Why did he react the way he did when Hermione smiled at Ron. And what was that rush of emotion in the classroom?

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	14. Chapter 14

A rather close rumble of thunder had caused Draco to wake from his nap up in the tree.

_Wait, when did I fall asleep?_

He remembered coming out to the courtyard to be alone. Then, as he sat in his tree, he got lost in his musing. That was the last thing he could recall.

He rubbed his eyes and stretched out his arms. He looked around to see that the sun was behind the mountains, it had left an array of colors in the sky. More noticeably, were the dark gray clouds that were practically overshadowing the Hogwarts' castle.

Draco hurried to climb down the tree and get into the building, before it started to rain. He could hear that the Great Hall was still buzzing with excitement from the students eating dinner and chatting, so Draco knew that he must have not been asleep that long. He started heading in that direction.

As he approached the Great Hall, Draco saw a blonde girl and a brunette girl exiting the room. Both of the girls seemed to be looking for something. Draco felt his lips pull into an automatic smile at the sight.

"Luna lose something again?" he called out, as he got closer to the girls. Both of them turned to look at Draco.

"Actually, it seems that Hermione was the one looking for someone lost, not myself, Draco." Luna responded. A thunderclap resounded outside and rain had started to drizzle against the windows.

Draco had reached where the girls were standing. He could tell that Hermione had been worried; she had that look in her eyes. He glanced over to Luna, who gave him a look that told him that he was the reason Hermione looked like that. He felt a surge of guilt.

"I'm sorry for making you worry." Draco said, placing his hand on her upper arm.

"As long as you are ok, then its ok," she replied. Hermione paused before continuing, her eyes focused on Draco's hand. "Well, I'm going to head on up to my common room for the night." She looked up at him wistfully as Draco slowly let his hand slide down her arm and fall back to his side.

"I'll walk up with you, Hermione." Luna said, as if she was reading Draco's thoughts. "We should let Draco eat some supper before its all gone." she added just as Draco opened his mouth to say something about joining them.

_Does she read minds now?_

Luna had her usual lofty expression, not one that showed she was concentrating on anything like mind reading. Draco turned his attention back to Hermione, who seemed to be miles away in her thoughts. He could hear the rain that was now pounding on the windows.

"Yeah, you have had a pretty busy day, Hermione." Draco said with a laugh. That brought Hermione back from her musing. She smiled bashfully.

"I'll be waiting at the top of the stairs for you, Hermione." Luna said as she walked towards the steps. Hermione turned to face her.

"Ok, I will be there in a moment." Hermione replied. Luna nodded as she went away. As soon as Luna was gone, Hermione looked back at Draco. She had a half smile on her face.

"I hope that you plan on behaving." he told her. Draco meant that in more that one way, but Hermione probably did not understand just how crazy he was for her. She just rolled her brown eyes at him.

"Don't worry, Draco," she said, "I don't plan on doing anything else so…out of character for a while." She finished with a wink. Now, it was Draco's turn to roll his eyes.

"Good." was the only response that he could come up with.

_Damn it, winking is NOT behaving._

"Well, I've got some homework that I want to get ahead on," Hermione said, "And I can't keep Luna waiting."

"Ok, well…" Draco always disdained parting from Hermione, "Good night." He leaned down, after a quick glance around the corridor to make sure no one was there, and kissed Hermione on her forehead.

Even though nobody was there to see it, Draco saw, when he stood back upright, that Hermione's face had colored with a light blush and she was biting on her lower lip, looking up at him through her eyelashes. She looked so very adorable standing there like that. She let out a breath that she had been holding.

"Sweet dreams and good night, Draco." she said, still blushing. Hermione, chewing on her lower lip again, walked backwards as she waved at Draco until she reached the stairs. Then, she turned around and slowly disappeared as she ascended the steps.

Draco ran his fingers through his hair and let out a sigh. His heart was still racing and he could feel his face burning with a blush of his own. He was going to wait a moment before entering the Great Hall, so he could calm himself down.

As he walked into the Great Hall, Ron and Harry waved at him from behind their fan club at the Gryffindor table. Draco, politely, waved back and headed to the Slytherin table. He noticed the enchanted ceiling did not reflect the thunderstorm that was going on outside, but a calm and starry night sky. Draco saw Crabbe and Goyle were trying to get his attention to come sit with him. So, Draco went to join them. The two grunted a welcome and cleared a spot between them for him to sit in.

Draco quickly ate supper. Then, he left the Great Hall and went to the dungeons to return to the Slytherin house. Crabbe and Goyle followed Draco, but kept their distance as to not make it obvious. It was apparent that the boys' fathers wanted them to be in good graces with the son of Lucius Malfoy. Too bad the son wasn't even in good grace with Lucius.

He didn't pause as he went through the common room, where Crabbe and Goyle did stop following him. Draco went straight to the dormitory. All the excitement of the day was catching up to him, causing Draco to feel very tired. Even with his nap in the tree, he still felt lethargic.

Draco tossed his school bag onto his bed. He crouched down to get in his trunk to find a pair of pajama pants to sleep in. He took his time getting ready for bed. Draco was thankful that tomorrow was going to be an easy day, at least as far as his classes were concerned.

As he was settling into bed, knocking his bag on the floor, a thought struck Draco. The only emotion that could come close to describing what he was feeling about Hermione and Ron was jealousy. But why would he be jealous of that? He made Hermione smile a lot. So what if she smiled because of someone else? It wasn't just someone else, though; Draco realized what the problem was. Hermione was smiling at another guy.

Draco knew it seemed selfish, but he wanted Hermione to only smile at him. He knew it was wrong, but he wanted to be the only guy she thought about.

_Maybe I shouldn't have introduced Hermione to Ron._ Draco wasn't comforted at all by that thought, but he was suddenly overcome by sleep.

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	15. Chapter 15

_Ugh, my head._

Draco woke up with a headache. He could hear the other boys shuffling around the dormitory. He knew that he should get up and get out of bed and dressed as well.

He felt like he was on autopilot. Well, from what Hermione had explained and from what he learned in Muggle Studies as to what autopilot was. He didn't want to think about anything.

Crabbe and Goyle walked with Draco as he left the Slytherin house and traveled to the Great Hall for breakfast. Draco just nodded at them when they said, well, Crabbe and Goyle grunted more than said actual words, good morning to him. As he got closer to the Great Hall, the noise was already starting to get to Draco. He was going to have to go by and see Madam Pomfrey for a quick remedy before class.

Draco ate a small breakfast and headed off to the Hospital wing. The pain in his head was slowly getting worse as he went up the steps. Of course, Madam Pomfrey had a potion for his headache, though it tasted awful, he thanked the nurse and went to class.

Muggle Studies was his first class of the day. He took the course so that he could get a better understanding of the world that Hermione grew up in. Draco had to admit, life without magic was fascinating. As he climbed the stairs, he thought about his father's reaction to Draco telling him that he was taking the class. Lucius went on a tirade about how Muggles and Mudbloods weren't worth the time of day to any decent wizard. Needless to say, the Malfoy household wasn't a safe place for a while. Draco couldn't stand to be in the same room as his father, when he was home. Lucius would sometimes take his frustrations out of the family's house-elf, Dobby. Draco would tend to Dobby's wounds as much as he could. He didn't like having to leave the house-elf behind when he went to school.

As Draco entered the Muggle Studies classroom, he saw the strange box that produced moving pictures, similar to the ones in the Daily Prophet, was in the front of the room. He learned a few weeks back that Muggles called this device a television, or more commonly known as the telly. Professor Burbage was busy connecting cords to the telly as the students began to fill the room.

Muggle Studies went by quickly, but the same couldn't be said for History of Magic. Professor Binns could hardly stay awake while he droned on with his lecture. Draco wished that he had this class with Gryffindor, instead of Hufflepuff. At least he would have somebody to talk to pass the time.

Finally, the bell rang to end class, though it didn't stir the sleeping ghost professor. Everyone left the room quietly. Then, as the students emerged from the room, they all started talking to one another. Draco strayed away from the crowd. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do with the next few hours. After all, he had a break, free period, lunch and then another break before he had another class, which was Herbology.

Draco decided to go to the library to do some homework, like the Potion essay that was due on Friday. Usually, Draco didn't work this far ahead of a due date, but he didn't have anything else to do. So, he figured why not. Draco headed for the usual study area that he shared with Hermione.

Doing the Potion essay did take up his break and some of Draco's free period. Draco spent the rest of the free period working on his star chart for Astronomy. His concentration was broken when someone cleared their throat next to him. Draco could smell a floral scent faintly fill the area. He looked up to see Hermione there, leaning back against the bookshelf.

"Hey Draco." she said with a smile. Hermione was twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. Today, she was letting her hair hang down naturally, but she had her black headband in.

"Hey Hermione." he replied. Draco started to pack away all his things.

"Thought I might find you here." Hermione said as she sat down next to Draco.

"Just doing a bit of homework." Draco said as he finished putting his stuff back into his schoolbag.

"Umm…" Hermione shifted in her seat. Draco wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure what to say, or how to say it.

"Excited for the Halloween feast next week?" he asked Hermione.

_You daft fool!_ Draco thought to himself. He had to hold back the urge to hit himself in the head with his palm.

"Oh, yeah." She sounded like she didn't care too much about this subject. Hermione's eyes traveled around the study area for a brief moment. Then, her eyes came to a stop, staring into Draco's own gray eyes. He felt his heart skip a beat.

_Why don't you tell her? Because, it would mess up our friendship. But it could turn into something more. Or it might ruin everything._ Draco's thought kept arguing back and forth in his mind.

"Draco, are you ok?" Hermione asked with concern. She leaned forward and he could see that her eyes mirrored her tone.

_I just want to tell you how I feel._

"Yeah," he looked down as he said that, "I'm fine." He looked back up to her with a smile. Hermione smiled back. He hoped that meant she wouldn't worry.

"Let's go get some lunch." she said as she stood up.

"Sure." Draco tossed his school bag upon his shoulder and got to his feet,

They walked next to each other as they went through the library, ignoring the whispers from the students that they passed. Draco couldn't help letting his fingers brush against Hermione's cloak sleeve, close to her hand. He wanted to take her hand and hold it, but Draco knew that she was very conscience about stuff like that.

The corridor was empty when the two of them exited the library. Draco was grateful for that. His heart was already pounding just thinking about what he was going to do.

"Hermione…" his voice showed a little bit of his nervousness, "Before we go, let's sit down for a moment." He gestured to a bench, not too far from where they were standing. She looked slightly confused, but went to the seat and sat down. Draco took the seat next to her, turning his body to face her.

His heart was going to burst out of his chest. Draco's palms were getting clammy. He could hardly think straight from the crazy rush of emotions he was experiencing.

"Hermione, I-"

_Wait, should I tell her that I like her? Or should I tell her that I lo-_

Draco never admitted to himself, or to anyone, that he might actually love Hermione. His eyes searched the ground for some answer to his dilemma. Then, he looked back up to her soft, warm chocolate eyes. He knew the answer then. He took a deep breath.

"Hermione..." he paused,"I lo-"

"Oi!" A male voice shouted from across the corridor.

* * *

**Ok, I am slowly figuring out how to work FanFiction. Once I do, I'll start replying to reviews and such!**

**And I know that the classes aren't set up like this at Hogwarts, but I needed to make it this way. Haha, yes, I have made class schedules for Draco, Hermione, Ron and Harry.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, alerts and etc! ^_^v**

**P.S. I finally got the video for this made! The link will be on my Profile!**


	16. Chapter 16

Draco and Hermione turned to see Ron, with Harry in tow, walking towards them. Ron was smiling, as if one of his pranks that he planned with his older twin brothers had gone well. Draco could feel his anger swelling up inside of him. He saw Hermione slide away from him slightly.

_You have got to be kidding me!_

Nobody said a word until Ron and Harry had reached where Draco and Hermione were sitting. Draco saw that Hermione was staring at the floor. She pulled all of her hair to hang over her shoulder, creating a curtain between herself and Ron, who was standing next to Hermione. Harry stood next to Draco.

"On your way to lunch?" Ron asked casually.

"Yeah." Draco answered after a few seconds of silence. He kept his attention on Hermione.

"Well, would you mind if we joined you on the way?" Harry asked.

"Sure." Draco replied. It seemed that Hermione was not going to answer any of their questions.

As Draco and Hermione got up, Ron kept his place at Hermione's side and Harry stayed on Draco's. They stayed in that formation as the four of them crossed the corridor, going towards the stairs.

"So, Granger…are you excited about the upcoming Quidditch match?" Ron asked as the group walked. "It is next Saturday, ya know."

_Are the only things that are on his mind: girls, food and Quidditch?_ Draco thought. The anger for his friend swelled up again for interrupting possibly one of the most important moments of Draco's life.

"Uh, yeah." Hermione answered, not taking her eyes off the ground as they walked. She stayed close to Draco as well.

"I've noticed that you don't take Divination." Harry was taking a turn now. "And it doesn't seem that you would take Muggle Studies. So, what class do you take?"

"Umm, I take ancient runes during that class time." She still did not look up as she answered the questions.

_What is this? Twenty questions: Hermione Granger edition?_

Ron and Harry went back and forth asking Hermione about herself. Slowly, she raised her gaze up from the floor and almost looked the boys in the faces. By the time that the group had reached the ground floor, she was practically making eye contact.

As they were getting close to the entrance to the Great Hall, Ron came to a sudden halt. Harry took one more step than Ron did, then he stopped too. Draco and Hermione were a couple paces ahead before they realized the other two were not with them anymore. They turned to see what caused the boys to stop. Ron took a breath and looked at Hermione very seriously.

"One more question," Ron shifted his eyes from Hermione to Harry and back to Hermione, "From each of us before we go." Harry nodded at Ron.

"First, are you…dating anyone?" Harry asked.

Hermione blushed lightly.

"N-no." She shook her head as she said her answer.

Draco saw Harry exchange a look with Ron, who nodded back. It was as if they were somehow silently communicating with each other.

"So then, Granger, is there anyone that you fancy?" Ron asked. He crossed his arms over his chest.

_What the hell?_ Draco never even asked her that question. He did want to know if she would answer though.

Hermione's face went a bright red shade. She went back to looking at the floor, trying to hide her blushing face.

"Ok, that's enough!" Draco almost shouted over his shoulder as he took hold of Hermione's shoulder, putting himself between his friends and her, again. Draco started leading her outside, to get away from everyone and to calm herself down.

* * *

Ron had a smug look on his face as he watched Draco take Hermione away.

"Well, that was as good as a yes." Harry said as he was walking back to Ron.

"How about a wager, Harry?" Ron asked his friend, who looked like he was interested.

"And that would be?" Harry said, crossing his arms across his chest as well.

"If the Gryffindor team beats the Slytherin team next Saturday," Ron said, raising his eyebrow, "I'm gunna ask her to be my girl."

"What?"

"Hey, I think its time that I got meself a steady girl." Ron replied with a mischievous smile, as they entered the Great Hall.

* * *

"Are you ok?" Draco asked when they were out the door. "Hermione?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." she said with a nod. Her face still burning red.

"I'm sorry." He pulled Hermione close to him. Draco hugged her as she rested her head on his chest.

_Why can't I hold you like this all the time?_

Suddenly, she pushed away from him. Her face, which had almost gone back to its normal color, was shaded with blush again. Draco realized that she was being her usual, conscience self.

"Sorry." he said.

"Draco, you should really stop apologizing so much." Luna said as she came through the door. Draco saw that she had carried some food outside with her.

"Hello Luna." Draco said.

"Hey Luna." Hermione said, at the same time.

The sun had dried the stairs from the rain the night before; so, the three of them sat down on the steps that led to the castle's main entrance. The girls sat on either side of Draco. Luna gave Draco and Hermione the food that she had brought.

"So, what was with the shout outside the Great Hall?" Luna asked after a few minutes of silence. Draco looked at Hermione, who was already eating and did not look like she wanted to tell the story.

Draco told Luna about Ron and Harry's sudden questionnaire about Hermione. He left out the part where the boys came in and what they interrupted, though.

"That is crossing the line of usual curiosity." Luna said as Draco finished and started eating.

He turned back to Hermione. She was staring out at the Forbidden Forest, not looking at anything in particular.

"Hermione, have you spotted a Nargle?" Luna asked, following Hermione's gaze with great interest, "They do tend to live in forests like that."

Hermione smiled and let out a laugh.

"No, I haven't spotted any Nargles, Luna." Hermione said as she turned to face her friends. "I'm fine. Just wasn't expecting anything like that."

"If you say so." Draco said. For some reason, he felt that there was more than Hermione was letting on.

"Well, if you two would excuse me for a moment." Hermione stood up and dusted herself off. "I'll be right back."

"Just…just be careful." Draco said, looking up at her. Hermione nodded. Then, she went back into the castle.

"You know, you should just tell her." Luna said as soon as Hermione was gone from sight. Draco felt shock run through his body. He turned to look at her. Luna had a calm, serene expression.

_How? How does she know?_

* * *

**Thank you all so much for all the reviews, favs, alerts and all that FanFiction jive. (Which I am still trying to learn. ^_^')**


	17. Chapter 17

"What…what are you talking about, Luna?" Draco asked. He was trying to keep a cool demeanor, but he felt like he was freaking out on the inside.

_If she knows, then does that mean that Hermione knows as well?_

There was a light breeze that waved Luna's long, blonde hair around, making her radish earrings stand out. She tucked a few stray strands away behind her ear. Then, she turned to face Draco.

"I am talking about the fact that you have feelings for Hermione." she said in a very matter of fact manner.

Draco felt his face start to burn slightly.

"Don't worry," Luna continued, "I don't think that she has any idea about it."

He felt a little relief at that, but Draco was still shocked that Luna "Looney" Lovegood had figured it out.

"So, have you taken up mind reading now?" Draco asked. He refused to look at her.

"No, though I would like to," she replied cheerfully, "I have been your friends for a few years now. And I have seen the way you look at Hermione."

Draco didn't say anything. He just stared aimlessly in front of him. Draco knew that Luna was perceptive, but he never realized that she paid that much attention to him.

"In case you're wondering, I started to notice a little while after the Yule Ball, last year."

Suddenly, Draco memories took him back to his Fourth year. More precisely, taking him to Christmas Day. He closed his eyes as the memory started to play out.

The Great Hall was decorated for the Yule Ball. The walls were covered in sparkling sliver frost. Hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy went across the starry ceiling. The House tables were gone from the room. In their place, there were about a hundred smaller tables, each of them were lit with lanterns. Each of the small tables looked like they could seat a dozen or so people.

Draco was nervously wringing his hands as he sat at one of the tables. It was a little after eight, which was when the ball started. He felt rather silly in the dress robes. There were couples out on the dance floor, each of them looking like they were having the time of their lives. Draco was trying to avoid Pansy's longing gaze that she directed at him; hardly paying any attention to her date, Blaise Zabini.

"Where could she be?" Draco asked himself. He had asked his good friend, Hermione Granger, to the Yule Ball. To be honest, Draco couldn't think of anybody else that he wanted to go with. She had been bashful about it, but she said yes. Draco wouldn't tell anyone, but it was one of the greatest feelings that he had ever experienced.

"Look at her!" someone close to Draco said, pointing towards the Great Hall's entrance. He followed the direction that they were pointing in. There stood the most beautiful girl that Draco had seen in his life. Whispers of disbelief grew around Draco, as the students continued to point out the girl. Draco's jaw dropped.

There stood Hermione, but she hardly looked like herself. Her usually bushy hair was sleek and shiny. She had it twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. Her robes looked as if they were made of some floaty, periwinkle-blue material. She even carried herself differently. Draco figured that it could have been the high heels she was wearing or just the lack of all her textbooks.

_She looks like an angel._ Draco thought looking at Hermione as he stood up.

Hermione was smiling nervously as she started walking towards him. The world around Draco seemed to fade away, leaving only Hermione behind. He began walking to her, so that he could meet Hermione halfway. Draco could feel a somewhat goofy grin spread over his face as they closed the distance between each other.

"Hey Draco." Hermione said. She was blushing from the attention that she received from her entry.

"H-hey Hermione." Draco replied when he finally found his voice. His heart was racing like never before.

"How do I look?" she asked. Then, Hermione spun around in a circle, showing all her hard work. He was completely awestruck. She was more than any word could describe.

"You look…" Draco paused, not sure what he could use to explain just how lovely she looked, "…absolutely beautiful." In truth, Draco felt that those words didn't do Hermione justice.

"Thank you." she said, her blush going a little darker. Then, Hermione started chewing her lower lip (a habit that she had just picked up recently), but she still smiled at Draco.

"May I have this dance, Miss Granger?" he asked formally. Draco gave a slight bow and extended his hand out to her. Hermione nodded and took his hand. Draco stood back up and led Hermione to the dance floor just as a slow song started up.

The two of them were the center of attention for a moment. People were whispering about Hermione's transformation. Draco could tell that she was even more nervous with others watching her dance with him.

"Hermione, just keep your eyes on me," he said, "Don't pay them any mind." Draco's heart was pounding against his ribs so hard as he placed his hand on her waist and took her hand with his other one. He hoped that she couldn't feel that his heart was going to jump out of his chest.

"Ok." she replied. She placed her free hand upon Draco's shoulder.

They twirled and danced with each together for quite some time, following with the changing tempos of the music.

"Draco, I'm starting to get dizzy." Hermione said, smiling rather bashfully. Draco thought that she looked so cute.

"Then, I suppose that we should stop spinning." he said, giving her one last twirl. Then, they ceased dancing.

Hermione looked into Draco's eyes. He felt like she could see into his very soul with her warm chocolate eyes.

"Draco?"

Draco was dragged back to the present, sitting with Luna. It had been her voice that called him out of his reminiscing.

"Oh, sorry, Luna." Draco said. He didn't mean to get lost in his memories. He felt bad for doing that to Luna.

"Just thought that you would like to be fully conscience before Hermione got back." Luna was up on her feet and starting to head back into the castle.

"Luna?" Draco felt like he needed to ask her something before Hermione did return.

"Yes, Draco?" she stopped and turned back to face him.

"Just…thank you for being a good friend to her." he said. Draco decided against asking the question. Luna nodded as her response. Then, she turned and went to go in the castle when she almost ran into someone.

"Oh! Are you heading to class, Luna?" Hermione asked as she walked out of the door.

"Yes, I was just enjoying a small chat with Draco before I went." Luna answered, sounding as if she really did enjoy it.

"Ok, well, thank you for lunch." Hermione said, "I'll see you later." She waved at her friend as Luna went back in the castle.

_Is that why she usually gives Hermione and me some time by ourselves?_ Draco pondered the question that he wanted to ask Luna.

Hermione turned back to face Draco. He smiled at her while she climbed down the steps to where he was sitting. She offered her hand to help him stand up

_Any excuse to hold your hand is good enough for me._ He thought as he took her hand. She pulled him up on to his feet.

"So, what did you and Luna talk about?" Hermione asked him. Once Draco was upright, she let go of his hand.

"Oh, nothing in particular." he said. "Come on, let's go to Herbology. We don't want any of the Prefects to get onto us for trying to skip class."

On that note, they went towards the Greenhouses. Draco watched Hermione as they walked. He had a thought that made him smile.

_I promise, when it's the right moment, I will tell you how I feel, Hermione._

* * *

**Ok, I didn't come up with the decorations of the Yule Ball or the way Hermione looked. That is the way it was described in the book. Had to get that off my chest. **

**Anywho, once again, I must thank you very much for all the reviews, favs, alerts, etc. It really means alot to me! ^_^v**


	18. Chapter 18

_Should I do it at the Halloween feast? Maybe I should wait awhile…_

Draco was contemplating about when he would confess his feelings to Hermione. He knew that he should be paying attention to Professor Sprout, but he couldn't help it. Draco would just make up some excuse when he would ask Harry or Hermione for their notes to copy. There wasn't any sense asking Ron, the boy had a rather fleeting attention span when it came to his classes.

Also, Draco mind kept wondering back to almost a year ago. Images of Hermione and himself dancing together continued to play in his thoughts; picking up where from where Luna had woke him fro his daydream/

"Oi, what's with you?" Ron whispered to Draco, pulling him back into reality. Harry leaned forward to look around Ron, raising an eyebrow at Draco.

"Nothing." Draco replied.

_Nothing that I am going to tell you, even if we are good friends._

Draco was thankful that Herbology was almost over. He had one more class, Care of Magical Creatures, and then he would be done for the day. With his classes, at least. The bell rang out to end class. Draco, Ron and Harry left the Greenhouse quickly. It wasn't too bright outside, because the sun was hidden behind an overcast of clouds.

"Gunna wait on Granger?" Ron asked as they walked out the door, stepping out of the way of the exiting students.

_What does it matter to you? _Draco thought bitterly.

"Yeah…I am." Draco answered as he shifted his school bag from one shoulder to the other.

Hermione was following behind one of the last group of students to leave the Greenhouse. She, as if it was an automatic response, stood next to Draco when she saw Ron and Harry. To be more precise, she stood a little behind Draco, placing him between the boys and her.

"Well, see ya later." Ron said with a smile. Then, he focused on Hermione and gave her a wink. Ron and Harry turned and left. Draco could feel Hermione shrink back a little. Draco felt his stomach drop and some anger swelled up.

_What is he playing at?_

He felt Hermione's hand on his forearm. Immediately, he relaxed. The tension disappeared when he looked at her. She smiled and he forgot about his friends.

"Come on, Draco." she said, playfully tugging on his sleeve. Hermione held on to Draco's cloak for a few moments while as they started walking towards Hagrid's hut. Once the small house was in sight, she let go.

Instead of Hagrid, the half-giant that had taken over teaching Care of Magical Creatures in Draco's Third year, Professor Grubbly-Plank was waiting for the students to gather around. Upon seeing her, Draco knew that this was going to be a quaint class. He figured that she must have been substituting for Hagrid because Headmaster Dumbledore sent Hagrid on some errand. Hermione stayed close to Draco through out the class.

* * *

The bell chimed that class was finished. Students went off in various directions. Draco saw that it wasn't long before they were surrounded by their fan girls. He just rolled his eyes and scoffed at the scene.

"Draco?" Hermione called his attention.

"Yes…Hermione." Draco caught himself before he called her some pet name.

"Let's go." she said as she turned and headed towards the castle. Draco reached her in hardly any time.

As they entered the school, they saw a familiar blonde hair girl sitting on a bench with her nose in a magazine an upside down Quibbler, to be exact. When they approached her, Luna slowly lowered her magazine and looked at Draco and Hermione from over the top of it.

"Hello again." Luna said. She put the Quibbler down on her lap.

"Hey Luna." Hermione replied.

"Hello Luna." Draco added.

"I hope that there wasn't any trouble today," Luna said, "Well, more than I already know about, I mean." Her eyes flickered back and forth between Draco and Hermione.

"No, none at all." Hermione answered waving both of her arms in front of herself. Then, Hermione took a seat next to Luna. Draco noticed that Luna's focus lingered on him for a few seconds before she turned to Hermione.

"Well, that's good to know." Luna said, sounding relieved. "Opps, I may have spoken too soon." Her eyes went towards the door. Draco turned to see what she was talking about.

Just then, Ron and Harry walked in. As soon as they spotted Draco and Hermione, the two boys headed for them. They seemed as if they were trying to catch their breath as they crossed the corridor.

"Hey there, Malfoy, Granger." Ron said when he reached them. Obviously, he couldn't see Luna behind Draco. Harry stepped around Ron. He started to say his greeting or whatever, but something caught his eye and he shut his mouth.

Confused, Draco followed Harry's gaze to where Luna sat. Ron looked around Draco to see what they were looking at.

"Oh, hello miss…" Ron started as Draco moved to the side so that Luna was in plain sight.

"Luna Lovegood." Luna said in her usual dreamy voice. Draco noticed Hermione shift herself away from them, as much as she could.

"You're in my sister's year, a Fourth year, yeah?" Ron continued. Harry was uncharacteristically quiet as he stood next to Ron.

"Yes. You're Ginny's older brother, Ron Weasley." The way she said it made it sound like she wasn't asking.

"Yeah, I am." he answered. "Well, we best be off now." Draco saw Fred and George waving at Ron and Harry from the steps.

"Come on!" the twins said.

"See ya later, Malfoy. Nice to meet you, Miss Lovegood." Ron said. Then, he took a step, placing himself in front of Hermione. "Bye, Granger." he said with a smile that made Draco uncomfortable. After that, the two boys went towards the waiting twins.

"Uh, bye." Hermione replied, quietly. She was the only one of the group to respond to Ron.

"So, that's 'Looney' Lovegood." Draco heard Ron say to Harry while they were still in earshot. "Heard Ginny talk about her…" Ron's voice faded away from being to far. Draco was thankful that he did go. He really didn't want to fight his friend for running his mouth.

_When did I stop thinking about Ron as a best friend and more of a friend?_

Draco knew that his friendship with Ron had been changing since last year, when Ron changed himself. He admitted that he did spend more time with Hermione and Luna, but that's because Ron and Harry spent their time with the newly acquired fans that attempted to follow the boys everywhere. Also, he wanted to be with Hermione. Draco saw Luna as the little sister he wanted, no matter how strange she was. Well, Draco and Luna were both Purebloods.

_No, I am not going to think about them_. Draco thought as he shook his head.

"What's wrong, Draco?" Hermione asked. He looked up to see that she was standing up in front of him.

"Nothing…" his voice trailed off.

…_as long as I have you, Hermione._

She didn't seem convinced. Draco saw Luna get up from the seat, her Quibbler in hand.

"Well…I need to run to the library for a moment. I'll see you two at supper." Hermione said. Draco noticed that she meant that she wanted to be alone. Apparently, Luna understood Hermione's meaning, as well.

"Ok, then. See you there." Draco managed to say. One thing that he didn't like as much as leaving Hermione was leaving Hermione alone. He feared that someone might hurt her, seeing that she was meek and timid. Not that she didn't know enough spells to protect herself, but Hermione wouldn't hurt a fly.

"See you there." Luna repeated as Hermione turned and left. Luna walked over to Draco and stood next to him as they watched Hermione leave.

"Yes, Luna?"

"Nothing," she said as she looked up to him, "Just thinking about that strange reaction from Harry Potter, just now. Didn't you say that he is as talkative as Weasley? Well, Ron Weasley."

Draco hadn't thought about it. He was busy trying to restrain himself from glaring at Ron. Now that Luna had brought it to his attention, Harry did act unusual. Normally, Harry would play along with Ron's games, no matter what.

"Maybe he fancies you." Draco said with a laugh. As if those two could be in a serious relationship.

"Draco," she responded by playfully shoving him, "Be serious."

"Ok," he said, "I don't know why he acted like that. Better?"

"Much. Now, I have to go do my own research with some things that father sent me. He is doing an article about recent Crumpled-Horned Snorkacks sightings."

"See you at supper then." Draco said. He had no clue what she was talking about, but he didn't want to be involved with the research.

Luna smiled and waved. Then, she turned and skipped to the steps. Draco turned on his heels and headed to the dungeons. He was going to relax before supper in the common room.

"Draco Malfoy?" a girl's voice called out from one of the couches as he climbed through the entrance. She turned her dark head of hair towards him and rested her dark eyes on Draco.

_Oh no._

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**Once again, mucho gracias for all the reviews, favs, alerts, etc. ^_^v**


	19. Chapter 19

"What do you want, Parkinson?" Draco asked. He was already tensing up for whatever shenanigans that she had planned. Pansy Parkinson slowly rose up from where she sat on one of the sofas in the common room. Her cloak fell off her shoulders and she didn't make an attempt to reach for it. She started walking towards Draco.

"Now, Drakkie," Draco fists clinched tight when he heard her use the little pet name she had come with to make people believe that the two were in a relationship, such that she could give him a nickname, "I know that you know the answer to that question."

Sadly, Draco did know the answer that Pansy was referring to. She had made it no secret that she wanted Draco Malfoy.

"Parkinson, don't you have a boyfriend that you should be snogging with?" Draco said, trying to distract her. With every step that she took to get closer to him, Draco took another step back away from her.

"Ha! Are you talking about Blaise Zabini? He's just something to pass the time with until you wake up from whatever she has done to you and quit hanging around that _Mudblood_," Pansy's lips curled with disgust as she said the word, "And come where you belong."

Draco could feel disgust of his own start to fill him. He absolutely detested hearing anyone use that term. Draco could feel the wall against his back. Pansy had a wicked smile on her face. She threw her straight, black hair over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist.

"Come on," she said as she continued to walk closer to him, "Quit playing games with me, Drakkie." She was within reaching distance of Draco, by the time she finished her sentence.

_First, I have to deal with Ron acting weird all day. Now, I have to face Pansy and her obsessive ways? Give me a break!_

Pansy extended her arm out and slowly caressed Draco face, from his jaw to his pointed chin. She was standing toe to toe with him. Her dark eyes stared into his eyes.

"You know that I am better for you. More than she will ever be." she whispered to him. Then, Pansy tried to close the little distance between them with her slender body.

Draco's anger flashed through him. He pushed her away from him. Pansy had gone too far with all her snide comments. She looked up at Draco from the floor. Her eyes burned with fury. He stepped around her and made his way over to the exit. Draco turned back to look at her.

"Pansy Parkinson, don't you dare call her that again," he sneered. Then, he turned to the door. "And she hasn't bewitched me, slipped me a potion or anything of the sort. So, you need to get over it. We will never be together."

As he reached for the door, he heard Pansy taking in sharp breaths behind him. He turned to see that Pansy's shoulders were shaking and her eyes were starting to overflow with tears. She was trying to maintain her anger, but Draco could see that it was slipping away with her tears.

"Every…everything I did…f-for you…" she said in between her sobs, "B-being on the…Quidditch teammm…Becoming a-a…Prefect…" Tears continued to fall from Pansy. "W-why am I…not g-good enough?"

Draco faced the door when he answered.

"I think you know the answer to that question, Parkinson." Draco said. Then, he walked out of the common room, leaving Pansy crying on the floor.

Draco felt bad about what he did to her, but she needed to stop dogging his steps and throwing herself at him. He walked through the dungeons and up to the ground floor in a daze.

_I may have been harsh, but she needed the wake up call._

"Draco, you know it isn't safe to walk around Hogwarts and not pay attention. You might wonder into trouble."

He looked up to see Luna. She was standing on the last step on the flight that lead to the ground floor from upstairs.

"You could walk into one of Peeves' traps." she said. Then, she jumped down to the floor. "But it seems to me that you have already been through something."

_Just when did she start paying so much attention to me?_

"I had to deal with Pansy Parkinson…again." Draco said with a sigh. He walked over to Luna and sat down on the step that she had just jumped from. She lowered herself and joined him on the stair.

"I'm sorry." she said. Luna patted him on the back a couple of times. Then, she interlocked her fingers together and put her hands in her lap. Groups of students passed by them, heading to the Great Hall.

"Hope you two haven't caused mischief while I was gone." Hermione asked. Draco and Luna turned to see her at the top of the stairs, one hand on her hip.

"Without you, we wouldn't dream of it, Hermione." Luna answered. Hermione smiled as she made her way down the flight.

Draco wasn't going to tell anyone else about what happened with Pansy. He had enough on his plate as it was. More students kept passing them, going to supper.

"There's not going to be any food left if we don't hurry up." Luna said jokingly. Hogwarts hadn't run out of food at any gathering that was held in the five years that Draco had spent in the school.

Hermione and Luna went to their table and Draco sat with Crabbe and Goyle while he ate. Occasionally, he would look over to check on the girls. (Even though, it was more like he wanted to keep his eyes on Hermione.)

"Yeah, Pansy won't come out of the dorm." a girl's voice said, not too far from where Draco sat.

"Well, did she say why?" a male voice asked.

"No, she won't. Wouldn't tell me why she was crying either." the girl continued.

Draco saw Millicent Bulstrode, one of Pansy's lackeys, talking to Blaise Zabini.

_Great._ Draco propped his elbow up on the table and rested his forehead in his palm. He got up and left the Great Hall. Draco was going to wait for Hermione and Luna out in the corridor.

There was a light drizzle of rain that was beating against the windows. As Draco walked over to the staircase, the sound relaxed him, somewhat. Draco leaned against the wall and slid down to sit on the floor. He closed his eyes. Then, he proceeded to ignore the chatter from the Great Hall and focused on the rain.

_Just what am I going to do?_

* * *

**Wow. Quite a shock, eh? Haha. Anywho, all the reviews, fav, alerts, etc. You all are totally awesome for leaving them!**

**(On a side note, I might start looking for a Beta.)**


	20. Chapter 20

"Dracoooo?" Hermione's voice held out the 'o' for a few seconds more than necessary for her to get his attention. "Have you fallen asleep?" she asked.

Draco kept his eyes closed and restrained himself to not smile.

"Wouldn't it be rather… irrational to talk to a sleeping person, Hermione?" Luna asked her friend. "…Especially a sleeping wizard."

"Luna does have a good point, Hermione," Draco said. He opened his eyes and looked up at the girls. "And, no, I wasn't asleep," he replied, as he got up on his feet. "I was listening to the rain."

Draco pointed to the windows, where it was still drizzling.

The girls nodded in understanding.

"Well, I'm going to head back to my House, now. Need to finish my letter to Father about the new article, so I can send it first thing in the morning," Luna said after a minute or so.

She stepped away from Draco and Hermione.

"Good night, Luna," Draco said.

"See you tomorrow, Luna!" Hermione added with a wave.

"'Night, you two," Luna replied cheerfully. Then, she turned, went up the stairs, and was out of sight.

'_I suppose that Luna does give us some alone time on purpose, after all,'_ Draco thought as he turned to look at Hermione.

"Wow. The past few days have certainly been exciting," Hermione said, sounding exhilarated as she turned to Draco. "Don't you think so?" she asked him. Her hands were clasped together behind her back.

'_Well, that's putting it rather bluntly, Hermione,'_ Draco thought to himself, suppressing a smirk.

"Yeah, it has been." Draco replied, running his fingers through his hair to give his hands something to do. "I hope that it calms down again, soon," he sighed.

Hermione let out a chuckle. "Yes, I suppose that we could use some of the regular old days again," she responded with a smile.

In the next moment, a group of Slytherins, from various years, came out of the Great Hall. Hermione's smile faded as the group started to walk near where Draco and she were standing.

A majority of the Slytherins ignored the two as they walked on. Some of them _did_ look over to the pair. The ones that did, stuck their noses into the air and looked down on Draco and Hermione, smirking.

"Ugh! What's that smell?" One of the students asked.

"Smells like a Mudblood," Answered another one.

The on-lookers cackled at the remark. The group quickly shuffled away, heading towards the dungeons.

In a few minutes, the corridor was empty again, except for Draco and Hermione.

Draco's anger seethed because of his Housemates.

"Come on, Hermione." he said. Absentmindedly, Draco grabbed hold of Hermione's hand as he started to walk away from the Great Hall. He was surprised that she didn't pull her hand back. She just followed him quietly.

Neither of them said anything as they climbed up to the Seventh floor, holding hands. Draco slowed down, so that he was walking by Hermione's side, not making their clasped hands extremely obvious as they went through the castle.

It wasn't until they started to get close to the portrait of the Fat Lady, that Hermione took her hand back and stopped walking.

Draco turned to her to see what had happened.

"I'm sorry, Draco," Hermione said, her voice tainted by sadness.

"For what?" he asked. "You haven't done anything wrong." He looked at her curiously, his head tilted to the side slightly.

"Well…it's just…I see how the others look at you. They treat you right, because of your family and…your heritage. But I see the way that they…look down on you…" she turned away from him. "Especially when you're with me." She was rubbing one arm with the other as she spoke.

"Hermione, do you honestly think that I give a _damn_ about what they say or do?" Draco said, feeling slightly frantic. His eyes shifted around the deserted corridor as he contemplated what he would say next.

"Draco, you're a Pureblood. They make it apparent that you shouldn't have anything to do with a…Muggle-born. Like me."

"Hermione Granger," Draco took her by the shoulders and spun her around to face him, "I don't care about what anyone else thinks about me, how they look at me, or how they might treat me."

Draco looked deep into Hermione's eyes. They were tinged with the same sadness that she showed in her voice. Nevertheless, Draco kept staring into her brown eyes. "All that matters to me is you."

He pulled Hermione close to him, wrapping his arms around her. He was sure that she could feel his heart rapidly pounding against his ribcage, but he didn't care. As far as Draco was concerned, Hermione was where she belonged.

"Nothing and nobody could ever come close to the best, compared to you." he whispered.

After a few moments, Draco relaxed his hold on her. Hermione took a small step back, just enough so that she could look up at him. Draco's arms still held onto her, not wanting to let go of this precious moment. He saw that Hermione's eyes were shining with tiny beads of moisture. As she blinked, a tear slowly rolled down her cheek.

"What's wrong?" he asked with a whisper. He raised one hand up to her face, caressing it. Then, he followed the trail that the tear had left behind with his finger, removing the proof of its existence. He slowly lowered his hand back down to her neck. Draco gently cupped her neck in his hand.

Hermione smiled up at Draco, her cheeks were colored by a light blush. She shook her head, her hair bouncing with each shake. "Draco…"

* * *

**House points to my totally awesome beta, A La DarkAngel! ^_^ **

**Thank you all very much for reviews, fav, alerts, ect! **


	21. Chapter 21

Hermione's lips stayed pursed from saying his name. Temptation washed over Draco when he looked at them. Draco closed his eyes to try to regain his composure. He hardly had them closed for a few seconds when he felt Hermione place both of her hands on his chest. His eyes shot open, just as she rested her head against his chest. Hermione looked like she was listening to his heartbeat.

"You know just what to say," Hermione's words were slightly muffled by his cloak. "…To make me feel better."

Draco wasn't sure what he wanted to say at the moment. So, he just moved his hand off of her neck and went down her arms. His other arm still was around Hermione.

_It's because I lo…I love you, Hermione Granger, _Draco thought. _Wouldn't it be so much easier if I could just tell you that?_

Hermione giggled, breaking his train of thought. He looked down at her to see what she found funny.

"Draco, your heart…its racing." she said, sounding amused.

"And what's so funny about that?" he asked. He was hardly paying attention that his thumb was rubbing her arm. "It's doing its job. If not, I'd be dead."

Hermione jerked away from him with a panicked look on her face. Then, she buried her face in his chest and her fists clenched around his cloak, holding tightly.

"No, don't talk about being dead. I can't even imagine my life without you." she said to his chest, blushing.

Draco couldn't help but feel elated at her words.

"Don't worry," he said sweetly. Draco put his hand under her chin, so that she was looking up at him. "I will be here for you whenever you need me. Promise."

Hermione smiled at up him. She hugged Draco.

"Ok." Then, she let go of him and stepped back. Draco's arms fell limply to his sides. "I suppose that I should be getting in there." Hermione said, pointing her thumb over her shoulders to the Fat Lady's portrait.

"I guess so."

"Well, good night and sweet dreams, Draco."

"Yeah, you too."

With that, Hermione turned to the painting. She whispered that password and quickly vanished through the door.

Draco hardly paid any attention as he went back down to the dungeons.

_Today has certainly had its ups and downs, but Hermione saying that she couldn't image her life without me. Wow._

The common room had very few people in it. Draco didn't care much; he head past them and went straight to his dormitory.

* * *

The next few days were dull compared to the last few ones. Draco was thankful for the peace. Pansy was avoiding Draco as much as she could. Ron and Harry were actually being friendly to Hermione, no longer asking her embarrassing questions. The three were, slowly, getting to the point where they could have a small conversation with each other.

"What a waste of a Saturday," Draco said, his chin in his hand, as he looked out the window to see the storm going on outside.

"Oh, Draco, don't be so morbid." Luna responded while turning a page in the book she was reading. She was sitting next to Draco and Hermione was on his other side.

"Ha, Malfoy just likes to sulk when he can't play outside on Saturday." Ron said from across the table. Harry sat next to him.

"Shut it, Weasley. Shouldn't you be practicing or something?" Draco retorted.

"Gryffindor is going to beat Slytherin, I promise ya!" Ron answered very proudly. Draco, being sarcastic, rolled his eyes at Ron.

Draco's two groups of friends were all sitting together at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Most of them had finished eating lunch, but Hermione and Harry were still working on theirs. Luna was multi-tasking; reading a book her father had sent her, and keeping up with the conversation.

"Weasley, that haughty attitude of yours- it's going to get you in trouble." Draco warned him. "You might even take Potter down with you."

"Doubt that. I'm smarter than that. Unlike some people," Harry's eyes shifted over to Ron, "I learn from past experiences."

"Hey!" Ron said after he swallowed a mouthful of food, "I just like to have some fun myself." Draco and Harry just shook their heads at him.

"I have a question." Luna said. She closed her book, leaving a quill as a bookmark, and set it down on the table. "Why do you three call each other by your surnames?"

The three boys looked at each other for a moment before Harry spoke up.

"Malfoy made it rather clear that he preferred to go by his last name, rather than his first when we became friends." Harry barely looked at Luna as he answered her question. "For some reason, in our Second year, he said he didn't care about it anymore, but we already were already in the habit of calling him Malfoy."

"Strange bloke, that Malfoy," Ron joked.

"It would kill you to be serious, wouldn't it?" Draco asked Ron.

"Hey Granger," Ron said, ignoring Draco's question.

Ron smiled as Hermione looked up to him. Draco's stomach dropped, but he didn't let it show that he was bothered by it.

"Yes?" she answered. Hermione didn't keep her gaze on Ron for too long, before her eyes began to travel the immediate area.

"Just wondering, but who do you think is going to win the match next week?" Ron asked, leaning on the table.

"Merlin's beard, Weasley," Draco said.

"What? I can ask a question," Ron defended himself.

"Umm…" Hermione said. "…I'm not sure, but then again, I haven't really thought about it."

An awkward silence followed her answer, but not for long.

"Hermione, I want to ask you about some rune translations," Luna spoke up.

"Sure," Hermione replied with a nod.

"How about we go up to the library while we look at them?" Luna suggested, already getting up out of her seat. She accidentally brushed against Draco as she did. Hermione nodded and followed Luna's lead. The three boys said their farewells to the girls as they left.

"Have you two even started your homework?" Draco directed the question to Ron and Harry.

"Eh…" Ron looked down at the table at the thought of homework.

"Ha, I'm better off than he is," Harry said, pointing at Ron.

"Suppose you know what your Saturday night is going to be like." Draco said.

All three got up and headed for the exit of the Great Hall. They went their separate ways at the door, Draco went towards the dungeons, and Ron and Harry went upstairs. As he started climbing down the steps, Draco slipped his hand into his cloak pockets casually. He felt something inside, so he pulled out whatever it was. Draco found a neatly folded piece of parchment. He pulled the paper open to find a note scribbled on it.

Draco,

I'm not quite sure about this, but I think that I need to tell you something about Ron. Could you please meet me in the library about 20 minutes before dinner? Don't worry, Hermione won't be there.

L.L.

Draco felt troubled now.

_What does Luna need to talk to me about Ron?_

* * *

Disclaimer: Amanda (Archi) own no Harry Potter whatsoever! …Except maybe the books. But nothings hers! (Ours) …Everything belongs to JK Rowling!

**Beta'd By: A La DarkAngel 3 =D Hehe. =D**

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	22. Chapter 22

_I'll just walk up slowly. Yeah, that's it._

Draco had been pacing the dormitory since he got there. He was feeling anxious about whatever Luna was going to tell him about Ron. Draco could hardly focus on anything else.

He had left the Slytherin House a little before the scheduled meeting time, so he could take his time getting up to the Third floor, where the library was. When he reached the entrance to the library, Draco took a deep breath and walked in. His hand tightened around the note that was in his cloak pocket as he made his way back to the study area.

Luna had her nose in the book that she had been reading earlier. Like her note said, Hermione wasn't around, and Luna was by herself. Draco saw some parchment that had some strange markings on them. He figured that these must have been the runes that Luna was talking about earlier. She had her wand stuck behind her ear, as usual.

"Hello Draco," Luna said, not looking up from her book.

"Hey Luna," he replied as Draco pulled out a chair and sat down. He was wringing his hands around each other.

"I need to let you know that I think that Ron is up to something." Luna closed her book and pushed it to the side as she spoke. "I'm worried that it has something to do with Hermione."

Draco was taken aback by what Luna was telling him. He knew that Ron was acting more than a little off lately, but he couldn't figure out what was the cause of it.

"Are you ok, Draco?" Luna's dreamy voice broke through his thoughts.

"Y-yeah," he stammered.

_Is this the reason I feel sick when Hermione and Ron look at each other? Was it intuition telling me something all this time?_

"I love you," Luna said rather nonchalantly.

"Wha-what?" Draco almost fell out of his seat.

"Its that easy to say, Draco." Luna continued as she stood as and grabbed her book. "You should tell her soon. She isn't going to be sitting around unnoticed forever."

"I know." Draco felt his face start to burn with blush. He didn't look at Luna, instead he fixated his gaze out the window. Rain was still pelting against it.

"Well, I'm going to take my book back to my dorm and then head down to supper," Luna said as she passed Draco. "See you there."

"Sure," Draco replied with a quick glance at her. His mind was racing with what-ifs.

* * *

Luna could tell that Draco was lost in his thoughts, again. So, she let a sigh and headed for the exit. Nobody talked to her as made her way to the Ravenclaw House, not that many people did go out of their way to be friendly to her. After all, she was Luna 'Looney' Lovegood.

She got to the entrance of her House, answered the riddle, and headed straight to her dormitory. Luna gingerly placed her book on the nightstand next to her bed. Then, she sat down on her bed.

"If Draco only knew that I really did mean what I said to him," Luna whispered to herself as she fell back onto the bed. Her wand fell from her ear. "I do love you, Draco... But you love Hermione." Luna could feel tears starting to swell in her eyes. She immediately wiped them away and shook her head.

"No, Luna, you are going to be happy for them...when they get together." Luna told herself out loud. She took a deep breath to calm herself. Then, she grabbed her wand and left the Ravenclaw House, heading to the Great Hall.

* * *

"Oi, the rain isn't that interesting, Malfoy," Ron said. Draco's attention snapped back to the library. Ron and Harry were standing over him.

"You okay, Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"I'm fine," Draco answered, looking away from his friends.

_How long have I been sitting here?_

"Come on, let's go eat," Ron said sounding happy at the thought.

"Doing your homework build up an appetite, Weasley?" Draco asked jokingly as he started to get out of the chair. Ron playfully shoved at Draco, knocking him back into the seat.

While walking down to the Great Hall, Draco and Ron continued to play around with each other. Harry just laughed at his friends, but kept himself away from the line of fire. As they got close to the Ground floor, Draco and Ron straightened up.

Dinner went by quickly. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting with Draco at the Slytherin table. (Pansy and Blaise were at the other end of the table, as far away from Draco as she could get.) Luna and Hermione sat as close as their separate tables allowed. Ron and Harry weren't that far from Hermione, but with all the girls that surrounded the two, they were as close as they could get to her.

When all five of them finished eating, they all met outside the Great Hall.

"I say let's cause some trouble." Ron suggested. Both Hermione and Luna rolled their eyes at him.

"That's all you want to do." Draco pointed out. He didn't want the girls to get caught up in Ron's ideas of trouble making. It was enough of a miracle that Draco, Ron and Harry weren't already expelled from Hogwarts for all the trouble that they caused.

"I think I'll just go on upstairs," Hermione said.

"I'll join you on the way," Luna said. Then, she turned to Draco. "Do you mind walking with us?" she asked him as she and Hermione started heading towards the steps.

"Sorry guys," Draco said to Ron and Harry.

_This is an invitation that I can't refuse,_ Draco thought as he dashed off after the girls.

Ron had a sly smirk on his face as he watched Draco leave with Hermione and Luna.

"Better enjoy it while you can, Malfoy," he said.

* * *

**Edited by your very own- A La DarkAngel! (: Hehe 33 (Review! Because I liked it! And reviews are cool.)**

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	23. Chapter 23

Draco, Hermione and Luna chatted as they climbed the staircases. They talked about what they hoped would be available to eat at the Halloween feast, and about how their classes were going for each of them.

_Anything to keep myself distracted,_ Draco thought to himself.

Since his discussion in the library with Luna, he'd been worrying about Hermione and Ron. Draco had been up to keep up a nonchalant facade that he had put on since Ron and Harry found him in the library. He was hoping that no one could tell that he was troubled by what Ron could be planning.

_Why her?_ Draco wondered as he looked at Hermione, who was laughing at something that Luna had just said. Then, he turned away because he knew the answer. Hermione was pretty, even with her wild hair. (Which she had practically tamed this year.) Also, how could anyone not care about her, once they got to know her?

"Draco?" Hermione called out. He turned his attention back to her.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Well, you seem a little...off lately," Hermione said. All three of them stopped walking.

"Hermione's worried about you, Draco," Luna cut in. "You have been acting as if you're somewhere else."

"Luna!" Hermione chastised.

"I'm only saying that its like he's on Mars," Luna said.

_You pay too much attention to me, Luna_

"Sorry..." Draco said. "Just having to deal with my father again." Draco stuffed his hands into his cloak pockets. He knew that he was going to have to come up with a new excuse soon. Draco could feel Luna's note from earlier was still there.

"Oh, Draco, I'm sorry to hear that," Hermione said sympathetically.

"Don't worry about it," Draco answered. "Besides, its almost curfew for Fourth years," he continued as he looked over at Luna.

"Which means that it is getting close to curfew for Fifth years as well," Luna said, raising a blonde eyebrow at Draco.

"Then we'd better get going," Hermione interjected as she started walking again. "Don't want to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris and get detention."

"You need to tell her," Luna mouthed at Draco before she turned and started to follow Hermione.

_As if I don't know that already._

Draco caught up with the girls within a few quick strides.

Luna said her farewells and left Draco and Hermione when the three had reached the Fifth floor, where the passageway to the Ravenclaw house was.

Draco and Hermione continued to climb up to the Seventh floor. The crossed the corridor quickly. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found that she was lightly snoring.

"Goodnight Draco," Hermione turned to him and said.

"You too, Hermione," Draco replied. He took a few steps back so that he was just out of earshot, so that he couldn't hear the password. (At least, leading Hermione to believe that he couldn't.)

Hermione smiled at Draco as the painting swung forward revealing the opening to the Gryffindor tower. Then, she climbed in and disappeared.

"Hermione, I love you," Draco said. He barely whispered the words that he wanted to say moments earlier. He let out a sigh. Then, Draco turned on his heel and headed back to the dungeons.

Sunday went by rather steadily, like the rain that was falling against the windows. Draco and Hermione were hanging out in the Great Hall. Luna had been with them, but she left to go talk to Hagrid about some creature she had read about and wanted to know if he knew anything about them. Ron and Harry had spent the morning out on the Quidditch pitch, practicing for the match on Saturday. When the two boys walked in, Draco and Hermione saw that their damp clothes were clinging tightly to their bodies and their drenched hair was matted on their faces.

"Give us a few. We'll be right back," Ron said. Harry nodded as his side. Then, the two dashed back out the door. Draco presumed it was to get changed and dried up.

"So, you understand now, Draco?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, don't know what I'd do without you, Hermione," Draco answered.

Draco had asked Hermione to explain some Muggle device called a personal cassette player. Of course, he really didn't need the explanation. Draco just enjoyed hearing about Hermione's world from her point of view.

"Fancy a game of wizard chess?" Ron asked as he reappeared. Both he and Harry had changed robes and dried out their hair. Ron had a battered looking chess board in one hand and a leather bag in the other.

"No thanks." Draco replied.

Wizard chess? I've never played that before!" Hermione exclaimed. This caused Ron to turn his attention to her. Hermione's cheeks were tinged with pink.

Well, suppose we _could_ teach you," Ron said. He put the board and bag down on the table and sat down next to Hermione. Harry sat across from her.

Draco didn't like how close Ron was getting to Hermione. Ron was explaining wizard chess to her as he and Harry were setting up the pieces. She just nodded that she understood what Ron was telling her.

"You got it?" Ron asked as he put the last remaining black piece on Hermione's side the board.

"I believe so," Hermione answered weakly.

Draco had to swallow his pride (a rather difficult feat for a Malfoy) and watched Hermione attempt to take on Harry. Even with Ron's help, she was losing.

"Oh, wizard chess!" Luna said as she came to join the group. She took a seat next to Harry, which, Draco noticed, caused Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Hermione's learning," Ron said. "Oh, hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name, do ya?"

Hermione shook her head. "Its fine." She didn't take her eyes off the board, trying to calculate her next move.

Harry ended up beating Hermione. Then, Draco and Ron had a match. Ron ended up taking Draco's queen and defeating him. Harry offered Luna a game, but she declined.

"Almost dinnertime," she said, pointing out that the hall was filling up with students.

With that, Draco and Luna went to their tables and ate. Afterward, everyone was filled up and tired. So, each of the group decided to go to their Houses for the night.

"We'll walk her up, mate," Ron said to Draco in a low tone that no one else could hear.

_Tell him no. Why? Because, Luna even knows that he's up to no good. But its not like I'm her parent, I can't tell her who to be with and who not to. _

"Ask her," Draco told him. He regretted saying it immediately.

"Hermione, mind if we walk you upstairs?" Ron asked her, gesturing to Harry and himself.

Hermione took a quick glance at Draco and Luna. Then, she nodded. "Sure."

"Well then, we're off," Ron said as he clapped his hands together.

Hermione walked over to Draco. She was biting her lower lip.

"Goodnight."

"Night, Hermione."

Then, she turned back to Ron, Harry and Luna, who were already on the stairs, and quickly caught up with them. The four of them started climbing the steps. Only Luna looked back and waved at Draco as they left. Soon, they were out of sight. Their voices were drowned out by the chatter coming from the Great Hall from students were eating.

Draco walked over to the entrance of the dungeons. He wrapped one arm around his stomach. It felt like someone had punched him in the stomach rather hard. Draco was feeling like he was going to be sick.

He carefully made his way to his dormitory. Draco saw that no one was there to bother him as he got ready and went to bed. He was thankful for that.

**

* * *

**

Disclaimer:

I wanted Mandie to buy me Harry Potter for my birthday...But...*sniffle*

**Haii! It's Archi again! Review! For me! As a birthday present! (:**

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**_Thank you to the readers for the FF love!_**


	24. Chapter 24

"Hey Hermione," Draco called out across the crowded corridor of the Ground floor. Students were taking their time to get into the Great Hall. It was starting to irk Draco.

Hermione turned around, but overlooked Draco. She seemed to be looking for someone in particular. Hermione had a slightly worried expression.

"Hermione," Draco tried again, but it was like she couldn't hear him over the other students. Her eyes continued to search the groups. Hermione kept skipping over Draco, like he wasn't even there.

Draco decided that he would make his way over to her. He was pushed and shoved by the students that wouldn't move, so he returned the favor out of frustration. Draco wondered why the crowd wasn't thinning out or moving. After a few minutes of trying to move, he saw that he wasn't any closer to Hermione than when he started. In fact, it seemed like he was further away now, further from her.

"What the hell is the problem?" he asked. No one seemed to hear him.

Hermione finally looked in Draco's direction. She was beaming, even her smile was dazzling.

Suddenly, the crowd the was next to Draco parted. There was a clear path all the way to where Hermione was standing.

"Excuse me!" Draco tried to get over to the clearing, but no one would budge. It seemed that he was packed into the crowd tighter than before.

The entire student body turned their gaze in the direction that Hermione had. It wasn't Draco that she was looking at. He turned around to see what had captured her attention.

There stood Ron at the bottom of the staircase. He had a smirk on his face as he started to cross the path to Hermione. As Ron passed him, Draco saw that Ron was wearing very nice dress robes. Draco looked around to see that everyone was dressed nicely, not in their school robes, like he was.

Draco turned back to Hermione. She was starting to redden from blushing so much. Ron took her by the arm. Draco hadn't noticed that she was dressed-up in Muggle clothes (a dark blue cocktail dress). What he did notice was how lovingly Hermione was looking at Ron.

"Well, I want to say thank you for coming to out engagement party!" Ron announced happily for all to hear. Cheers erupted from all over the room.

Draco felt his stomach drop. He could feel his heart break. Draco couldn't breathe. His mind wasn't functioning properly either. It seemed like the room was spinning around. Draco shut his eyes tightly.

When he opened them again, Draco was alone in a dark room. He found himself laying down on the cold ground. Draco looked up to see a light being emitted from somewhere above him. It was giving off just enough light to see in the immediate area around him. He slowly eased himself up into a sitting position, but that took what strength he had.

"I don't want to get up," Draco's hollow voice echoed in the emptiness that surrounded him of the dark room. There were several moments that went by with no other sound.

Then, Draco heard footsteps that were faintly approaching him. Slowly, a silhouette came into his focus. Draco could see that the figure was a girl with long, flowing hair that swayed with each step she took. Once she walked into the light, Draco saw who the person was. It was Luna.

She stopped about a foot or so away from Draco. Then, she crouched down so that she was eye-level with him. Draco could see the sadness in her eyes as she looked into his.

Questions were racing through his mind, but Draco wasn't sure where to start. He kept opening his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and clamped his mouth shut again. He just wasn't sure what to say.

"I told you she wouldn't go unnoticed," Luna said in her dreamy voice. She stood back upright and slowly disappeared back into the darkness. Draco could see that she had tears in her eyes.

He tried to call out to her, but the lump in his throat prevented that. Draco tried to reach out to her, but he didn't have the strength to get up. He looked up to see that he was all alone in the dark room.

Suddenly, Draco jerked himself upright. He was breathing heavily as he looked around. Draco saw that he was in his four-poster bed with the curtains drawn shut. He raised his hands up to rub his face, which was covered with a cold sweat.

_It was a dream._ Draco thought to himself. He took a deep breath before he peeked out to see if anyone else was awake. Not that he really needed to, the snoring that filled the dormitory told Draco that he was the only one that had waken up. Still, he quietly moved the curtain back and saw that no one else was stirred.

"What a way to start Halloween," Draco whispered to himself. Then, he got up and started getting ready for the day.

Breakfast wasn't a notable affair; though Draco did receive a box of candy from his mother when the mail arrived. Crabbe and Goyle joined Draco at the table. The two of them were making a ritual of it, to sit with Draco when he wasn't with his Gryffindor buddies. Draco wasn't paying much attention to their grunting today.

Instead, Draco was watching the entrance door of the Great Hall. He was waiting for Hermione to walk though. Draco couldn't explain it, but he needed to see her.

Finally, after waiting about fifteen minutes, Hermione came in the door. She was smiling as she was talking to someone behind her. Draco thought that it was Luna, but then Luna walked in beside her, only a step behind Hermione. After the girls walked in, Harry walked in behind Luna. He was having a conversation with her as they walked to their tables. Draco could see that Hermione was still standing at the door and still talking to someone just out of Draco's view. Hermione finally stepped into the hall, followed by Ron. He seemed to have just told her a joke or something else funny, because Hermione and Ron were laughing together.

Draco was regretting eating anything, because his stomach started feeling queasy. He felt uneasy as he watched Hermione and Ron make their way to the Gryffindor table. Images from the nightmare that he had the night before came rushing back into Draco's mind.

He got up and left the Great Hall. Draco wasn't going to lose his cool in front of the school. He started to head upstairs to get to his class.

_You're just jumping to conclusions because of what Luna told you,_ Draco thought as he climbed the steps.

Draco kept himself busy with his classes and tried hard not to let his thoughts drift away. When the break came around, he went to the library to work on his History of Magic essay that was due later that week. Draco's feet were automatically taking him to the usual study spot, but he caught himself a few aisles away from it.

He wanted to see Hermione, almost like a desire that had to be fulfilled, but Draco wanted to make sure that he had the right words to say to her. Draco knew that he needed to tell her soon, though. His mind wasn't on the study material that was before him. Draco kept thinking about how he was going to finally tell Hermione how he felt about her.

The bell chimed that break was over. It broke Draco's train of thought. He gathered his things, with hardly anything added to his essay, and left the library.

As he walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Draco started looking for Hermione at the front of the room. She wasn't in her usual seat. Draco felt confused, because Hermione never was late for class.

"Oi!" Ron's voice came from the other side of the room.

Draco turned to see Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting together at the boy's usual table. He hurried across the room and took the empty seat beside Hermione, seeing as Ron was sitting on the opposite side of her. Hermione happily waved at Draco as he got settled.

"Alright class, please get to your seats and have your homework ready to turn in," Professor Lupin said before Draco had even got the chance to greet Hermione.

Draco was pulling what he needed for classes when he heard Hermione already scratching away with her quill. Then, she slid a folded up piece of parchment towards Draco. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but she just smiled at him. So, Draco opened the note and read it quietly.

Oh Draco! I've got something wonderful to tell you! I'll wait until after class to tell you the news! 

_What could make Hermione so giddy? And why is she back here instead of being upfront? What's going on?_

* * *

**Heyyyy! It's Archi here! And I just wanted to say two things-**

**1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDIE! (: You write a kickass story, so I think you should have a kickass birthday. (: Tee hee.**

**2. Review! Haha, that was definitely coming.**

**3. Almost forgot she don't own anything! (:**

**__****Here's Mandie! ^_^ This is my birthday present from me to my readers! I decided to give you all the present of a new chapter! **

**_Alrighty then, thank you for the reviews, favorites, alerts and etc! _**


	25. Chapter 25

It was difficult for Draco to pay attention to Professor Lupin's lecture. Draco's mind kept wandering off in different directions. He was pondering about what "wonderful" news could Hermione have for him. _Wait!_ A thought struck Draco. He looked over at Hermione, who was still smiling as she was fervently jotting down practically everything that the professor was saying. _What if...what if she wants to say the same thing to me that I want to tell her? _Draco looked down at the table. _What if she realized she..._

The shrill sound of the bell shook Draco out of his thoughts. Students all over the classroom were packing up to leave and shuffling out the door. Draco turned to Hermione. Ron leaned forward on the table, showing off a very mischievous smirk that Draco couldn't trust as a good sign.

"Let's go," Hermione said as she stood up. She threw her bag over her shoulder. As Draco got to his feet, he saw that Ron and Harry were following Hermione's lead.

_Ok, this is more than a little bit strange._

The four of them left the classroom. Draco and Ron were on either side of Hermione and Harry walked behind them. Each of them kept to themselves as they walked.

"It looks like everyone is here. What is the occasion?" Luna's voice drifted through the crowd from behind the group. Everyone turned to the direction that the voice had came from. Draco saw Harry suddenly straighten up and attempt to flatten his always untidy hair as Luna came skipping into view.

"Hello!" Luna said cheerfully as she reached the group. The five of the made a circle in the middle of the corridor.

"Hey Luna!" Hermione replied happily.

"Hello Luna." Draco responded.

"Hey there, Lovegood," Ron nodded.

"H-hi, Lu...Lovegood," Harry stuttered.

"Suppose we are heading to lunch?" Luna asked. Harry nodded to answer.

"Well, actually Luna, I have to tell Draco the news," Hermione said.

"Oh," Luna slightly depressed by Hermione's response. Draco didn't feel comforted by that.

"Um, Lovegood?" Harry tried to get Luna's attention, but also ended up getting everyone looking at him.

"Harry, you don't have to call me Lovegood," Luna answered as she turned to him. Harry's cheeks had a slight hint of color to them. "You can just call me Luna."

_At least he isn't calling her Looney or something like that._

"Er, ok. Well, would you like to go on to the Great Hall with me?" Harry asked. "Maybe you could even explain what Nargles are, or something like that?"

Draco notice Luna's eyes quickly flash in his direction, then back to Harry.

"I'd be delighted," Luna replied.

Then, Luna and Harry set off together. Draco turned back to Hermione, not seeing Luna glance over her shoulder forlornly at him. Luna looked back at Harry and started to explain Nargles as the walked away from the others.

"Let's go to the courtyard," Hermione suggested before either Draco or Ron could say anything about the scene that just played out in front of them. Both of the boys looked at Hermione.

_Isn't her face hurting from smiling all day?_

The three of them traveled in silence, again, as they made their way to the courtyard. The tension in the air was practically tangible, though. Draco wasn't comfortable with the situation at all now. He looked over at Ron, who had a wicked smile that he usually reserved for when a prank had gone right or whatever trouble-making that he was doing worked out.

_What does Ron have to do with this? I should just jinx that look right off his face,_ Draco thought bitterly.

Once they reached the courtyard, Draco stopped and didn't notice that Hermione and Ron continued to walk on. Draco looked up to see that the sky was completely dark from the overcast of clouds. It seemed so dense that the sun wouldn't have a chance of shining down on Hogwarts today. Then again, it was Halloween, maybe the sky was accompanying the holiday.

"Draco," Hermione called out. Draco turned his attention from the sky and towards Hermione, who was half-way across the courtyard next to a bench. She was motioning for Draco to hurry up. Draco picked up the pace. He saw Ron lean over and whisper something in Hermione's ear. She bit her lower lip and nodded. Then, just a Draco made it to Hermione, Ron walked away. Hermione sat down and waited for Draco.

"Alright Hermione," Draco said as he sat down next to her. "What's the news you have for me?" _And why is Ron following you around like a lost puppy?_

"Ronald asked me to be his girlfriend!" Hermione practically squealed out in her happiness. "We're together!" She clapped her hand together, as if for emphasis.

As if he had been knocked loopy, Draco's eyes went out of focus and his mind felt numb. Draco couldn't see how happy Hermione's expression was. He hardly felt the breeze blowing through the courtyard.

_This has...to be a...Halloween trick._

"Well? Aren't you happy for me?" Hermione asked, sounding a little depressed. Draco realized that this wasn't a trick.

The world came back into focus. Draco's mind started to register what was going on. He saw that, for the first time today, Hermione wasn't smiling.

"No, Hermione. That's not the way its supposed to be," Draco pounded his fist into the stone bench. He didn't care about the pain surging upwards into his arm from his pale white hand. His knuckles were clenched so tight the bone shone through.

"Wh-what?" Hermione asked with confusion and sadness mixed together.

_Draco, stop! _A voice said from the back of Draco's mind, but he ignored it.

"Draco, what do you mean? What's not supposed to be?" With each word, Hermione's voice slowly started to shake. "Ron and me?"

Draco nodded his head. Then, he turned to look at the ground.

"Why? Why would you say that?" Hermione asked. Draco hated to hear the melancholy in her voice.

"Because..." Draco started as he turned to face her. "Hermione Jean Granger, I love you."

* * *

**Archi here, and I totally love Mandie for this! (For using my awesome idea. Lmao.) I think this is the end of the story, right? Like, a sequel? Mandz, correct me if I'm wrong? Or one more chapter?**

**:)(:**

**Disclaimer: Nothing. -.-**

**CLIFFY! Lmao(:**

_Hello there! Mandie reporting for duty! And to answer your questions, Archi; there is a sequel already in the works,s but there is a few more chapters to come on this story! _

___Thank you very much for all the fanfiction lurve! You all are great!_

**__****_**Update as of September 19, 2010**_**

**__****_Archi and I have decided that to end this story and begin work on the sequel. Thank you very much for you support! -Mandie_**


	26. Chapter 26

"Wait...what?" Hermione asked. Her voice was full of disbelief.

"I love you, Hermione." Draco's face was colored with blush as he repeated himself. He looked straight into Hermione's eye, which reflected the confusion she was feeling.

"But..." she started. But it seemed that her words failed her. Hermione searched his fae, to see if he was being serious. Then, she turned her attention to the ground.

Draco extended his arm and wrapped it around Hermione's shoulders. Her body was trembling underneath it. With his free hand, Draco reached over and gently lifted Hermione's chin up, so that she was looking at him. There were small tears in the corner of each of her eyes.

"No. No, no, no. No way." Hermione said as she jerked her away from his palm. She raised her hand up and, using her sleeve, wiped away the tears. "This is not happening."

Draco's face fell. "Don't you...don't you like me? I mean, as more than a friend." he asked as he took his hand back.

"I'm so sorry, Draco" Hermione's voice started to quiver. She took a deep breath before she continued. " I love RON. I have for years now...I just can't..."

Hermione turned away from Draco for a few seconds. When she looked back at him, she had a hurt expression. "You're lying. Holy crickets! You're lying." A few tears streaked down her face.

"No Hermione, I'm not."

Before she could do anything about it, Draco used the arm that was around Hermione's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Their faces were barely inches apart. She could feel his warm breath, which had become rather jagged, as he exhaled. Draco moved his hand, that wasn't holding her, to the back of her neck.

Hermione started to chew on her lower lip. It was difficult for her to resist the temptation to turn away ,because she was nervous. She wasn't sure what Draco was thinking. Hermione stared into his gray eyes, which seemed so sincere, so honest as he looked at her.

Suddenly, she realized what was going on. Draco's arm tighten around Hermione as she tried wiggle away. She put her hands on his chest, attempting to push him away. Hermione felt Draco's heart pounding against his ribs.

Then, Draco's lips met Hermione's own. It was a gentle kiss; it caused Hermione to lose the will to fight. The world disappeared around her. She found herself kissing Draco back. Her hands slid up his chest and wrapped around his neck. Hermione felt him pull their bodies closer together, as much they could be while sitting on the bench.

Hermone let her fingers run through Draco's blonde hair. She could feel him doing the same, his fingers become entangled in her own hair. His arm moved to her waist as the kiss became more passionate. Hermione's hands were running all over Draco's upper body.

"Hermione...I love you...and always have." Draco whispered between breaths when they broke apart. The two of them were gasping for air.

She looked over at Draco, who was smiling at her as he leaned back on his hands. Even with his always perfect hair dishevled, his pale face burning red from blushing and his robes hanging half-way off his shoulders, Draco looked like the happiest man in the world...and very...

_Wait! Since when did I start thinking that my best friend was handsome?_

Everything came crashing back to Hermione. The reason behind the kiss. The confession of love from Draco. The fact that she didn't just start to have a relationship with him. That she was supposed to be Ron's girlfriend.

Immediately, Hermione gasped and jumped up to her feet. _What did I just do?_

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Draco asked. She could see him start to reach out a hand towards her. She took a step away from him.

"I...I have to go." she said as she took another step towards the castle. "I'm sorry." Then, Hermione turned and ran back inside the castle.

* * *

_**Mandie here! Ok, THIS is the last chapter on this story. It is also the first chapter of the sequel (kinda like a prologue thingie, I guess). **_

**_Thanks to everyone for the reviews and such that kept me writing! _**

**_See ya in the new story "Dancing With Tears In Her Eyes" ^_^_**


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